


All Roads Lead Home

by Name1



Series: Fate Across the Miles [3]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Becoming a family, Brothers, Childbirth, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Holidays, Long Distance Relationship, Pregnancy, Romance, The Little Things, Travel, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27851426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Name1/pseuds/Name1
Summary: A continuation of Missed Connection and Arrivals and Departures. Cara and Din embark on a life together and cherish every moment of their unlikely family forming before their very eyes.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Series: Fate Across the Miles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883059
Comments: 101
Kudos: 90





	1. It wasn't the shrimp

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_Vibeke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Vibeke/gifts).



> In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, here's what I hope is a feel good story in my favorite AU. It's all complete, but to keep up with editing, I'll post a chapter every few days. Happy December holidays to all, and I hope you enjoy your much nagged and much awaited present Lady_Vibeke :D

Cheryl sees her in the staff only bathroom brushing her teeth.

“You having plumbing issues at your place?” she asks Cara, when she catches her eye in the mirror.

The voice of her agent and friend behind her almost made her jump. She wasn't expecting any other women in the staff restroom that early in the morning. 

“No, I just wanted to brush my teeth in the morning but there’s something off. The pipes are fine, but I think I might have mold or something.”

"What do you mean?" she asks her, looks at her curiously for her to explain. 

“Whenever I go into the bathroom when I wake up, I feel like I'm going to puke," Cara tells her, "and when I bleach it, it only makes it even worse.”

"You think you're smelling mold?"

"No, but even the air freshener I'm using to cover it up smells weird. I just thought I'd do it here," she explains. At her friend's worried look, she adds, "Don't worry Cher, I'll have someone come out next week and make sure there's not a leak or something." 

Cheryl’s even more suspicious now. 

"What about at night?" she asks.

"I don't notice it as much at night," the younger woman admits, "but maybe it's because I'm so tired I just don't notice it? I've been working the same hours but I'm dead on my feet before four in the afternoon."

"Maybe you just need more coffee or an afternoon snack," is her helpful reply.

Cara crinkles her nose. "I probably _would_ be less tired if I could eat more, but food sounds so unappealing. I think I've lost a few pounds."

Cheryl feels a funny feeling creep up her neck. _Oh crap....._

She tries to play it cool. "So, when are you going to see Din again?" she asks casually. "How long has it been since you went out there?"

Cara's face changes at just the mention of him. She can't wipe the sappy burgeoning smile off her face. "Today's the 11th right, so it's almost been 7ish weeks -- _too_ long. I hope I can get out there again soon."

She's not sure how far she can push with the leading questions before Cara gets suspicious of her unusual nosiness. "I bet you do," she says. "And everything is fine with you two?"

"So much better than fine," she says, with a full-on sappy smile now. "It's wonderful. _He's_ wonderful. His son is wonderful." She probably sounds like a broken record, but she doesn’t care.

“Sounds nice.....” her friend says wistfully.

"It is....” Cara says softly. “It’s the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Cheryl's next question will probably make her friend bristle, but she has to ask. "You had sex, I'm assuming?"

That takes her aback a little. "Jeez Cher, just get right to the point why don't you. Since when have you been this nosy? That's not really public knowledge."

_'Fine',_ Cheryl thinks. She wants 'to-the-point'? She can do 'to-the-point'. "Different question then--you had your period since you came back?"

"What?" Cara asks, with a visible flinch. She can't see how that has anything to do with when she could make time to visit Chicago again. "I'm not _that_ moody, am I?" 

“No. I just--- your skin has been flawless since you got back and usually I buy those astringent wipes every month to help you not break out,” Cheryl reminds her. She was her agent but also her unofficial assistant. Cara automatically touched the sides of her face. Her skin was soft, not oily at all. "I guess I haven't needed them." 

“When was your last period?”

 _'What the hell?'_ , Cara thinks. _She’s really not holding back with the intrusive questions._ _What has gotten into her today?_ “I don't remember--I've been busy and all the days kind of blur together.”

Cheryl cocks her head to the side and puts her hands on her hips. "You're my friend and technically I work for you, so don't fire me, but are you really this dumb?"

"What do you _mean_?" the younger woman asks, slightly offended by her usually mild-mannered friend.

"Have you taken a pregnancy test?" she asks, bluntly.

Cara actually snorted at that. "Oh come on. Be serious. I am _not_ pregnant."

"You don't even know when you had your last period. Stay here," her friend tells her. "I'm going to the store down the street. You'll feel better knowing, and so will I.”

“This is dumb. You're wasting your time and your money,” Cara calls after her, but she couldn't be deterred from her mission and walked out the front door to get to her car.

She returns with a brown paper bag and Cara bursts out laughing.

"People will think you're smuggling booze in for breakfast,” she tells her. “A paper bag, _really_?"

Cheryl snorts. "I might be in _need_ of a stiff drink in a minute, depending on how this goes." Her assistant locked the door to the bathroom that was only for trainers just in case. 

"You're paranoid," she jokes, as her friend looks around one more time to make sure they're alone.

"Just assuring you have some privacy."

"Do I just do one?" she asks, as she picks up the box in question and opens one side.

“They came as a two pack, so you might as well take both. _I_ sure as hell don't need one,” Cheryl says. She was glad to be past menopause already; though for a couple of years she'd been a mess. 

"This is dumb," Cara declares, as she reads the instructions, and pops both of the pink caps off. "I can't believe you just wasted, _what_ …….," she pulls up the receipt "....thirteen bucks on this? Why are they so expensive anyway?"

She uses the restroom, and she comes out of the stall with both in her hand and slaps them down on the counter a little harder than necessary. There's a small loveseat in the sitting area of the restroom and she plops down on that with slightly more annoyance than is warranted. She puts her face in her hands and tries to get comfortable. "It said wait five minutes." She tried not to think about what deflective joke she'd come up with when she saw a big fat negative when the time was up. She knew Cheryl's heart was in the right place, but this was ridiculous. It was not only ridiculous, but also kind of sad if she thought about it too hard. Like she really needed a reminder she was past her prime and would probably struggle to get pregnant once they really started trying..... Maybe she couldn't remember her last period because it was starting to go away. She didn’t want to imagine the disappointment on Din's sweet face after months go by of them actually trying and she can't manage to give him the one thing they both wante—

“---uhh----”

Her friend’s voice broke her out of her vision. Her voice sounded different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...... frantic almost.

"--uhh Cara. you should see this."

"What?!" she snaps, not meaning to. It's not her friend's fault she is getting old. It hadn't even been thirty seconds though. What could she possibly have to show her other than a big fat negative. She didn't really want to see it.

With a huff she stands and walks over to the counter where her friend is looking at the white plastic strips like they're poisonous snakes that might reach out and bite her at any second. Cara picks up the one closest to her and sees a single pink line in both of the circle windows. "So what? The controls worked. Wonderful." She couldn't hide her bitter sarcasm even if she tried. Her whole chest hurt now.

“Cara, look at it again,” her friend insists.

"What do you want me to say?" she snips back. "It's negative, there's no plus sign. I told you I wasn't." Her hormones had been such a mess lately and her eyes were absolutely not wet despite what her eyelashes were telling her. She actually felt a pang of sadness at the evidence in front of her. They weren't really trying, but they kind of _were,_ and as much as the thought that she might be pregnant was terrifying it was also thrilling at the same time. Just the possibility itself was beautiful and she realized at that very second she wanted it to be true, despite everything. There was a certain kind of magic in thinking she might be carrying his baby for even a single moment and she almost didn't want to see proof that magic was over-- once hope was replaced by the cold hard facts, there was no going back to the dream of beautiful dark eyes that would call her 'mama'...... She feels sick at the loss already. She just wants to go home now.

Her friend takes the box and turns it over to show her the back. 

“This brand doesn't have a plus sign. It's just a line,” her friend explains, getting her attention once more. “One line is negative, two lines is ......shit, Cara. There’s two lines here.”

Cheryl had always had fair skin, but her face was unnaturally white now--her freckles standing out in stark contrast, and Cara couldn't remember the last time she'd seen the other woman this tense in front of her. 

Cara grabs the box from her and sees her own hands are shaking. She holds up the test to the box and it looks exactly like the picture of a positive test. It's only been maybe ninety seconds now, but the second line is as strong as it can be. 

"Give me the other one. Let me see it!" she exclaims, and almost drops the first one on the floor to get to the second one as she hears the plastic clatter against the counter in the otherwise silent bathroom. The only other thing she could hear was her blood pounding in her ears.

The second one is the same as the first--two lines on each. She blinks to make sure her eyes are clear and she wasn't seeing things. She swallows and she reminds herself to breathe as all other essential body functions seemed to go offline. Her friend brings her back to the moment. “Cara....you're....”

She knows she should be shocked, which she is, but she's also so happy it takes over everything else. Whatever uncertainty, fear, hesitance, or nervousness that would likely creep up would have to wait its turn--it's pure happiness now and it feels like sunshine. She was pregnant, she thinks; saying the word in the privacy of her own mind for the first time. She and Din were going to have a ba--

“I have to tell Din,” she says suddenly, and cracks a watery smile.

"Maybe you should wait until your hands stop shaking," Cheryl helpfully suggests, and reaches out to hold her sweaty palms steady. Cara almost laughed at the suggestion; she didn't know if they'd ever stop shaking. She was pregnant.

She wants to tell him in person but she has a full day on her planner today and tomorrow.

She turns her head to address her 'assistant'. "What do I do about my clients today?" At this point she wasn't even sure she'd be able to find her car in the parking lot and there were only two of them. She might have forgotten her middle name and her birthday as well--her whole brain was still seeing those lines. She knew it was crazy, but she felt different--aware somehow that her body was different. She knew it was true. Despite her disbelief, she really _was_ pregnant. _Had she really been ignoring the signs that were so obvious to someone else?_

Cheryl calms her down. "I'll give them to Jeff today--two of his cancelled. Make an appointment to go see a doctor. I'm sure everything's fine, but they can confirm it at least."

…………..

She gets an appointment later the same day and it's taking everything not to text Din to see if he's free. She doesn't want to tell him until she's sure, and certainly not over the phone, but it would be nice to hear his voice. 

She leaves the doctor's office with a handful of paperwork and a smile trying its hardest to break free on her face. She manages it mostly down the elevator and out of the building, but she can't keep it from making its way across her face once she gets to her car. She had just heard the most beautiful sound during her scan, but was pissed off that they wouldn't let her record it on her phone. Stupid HIPPA--it was her _own_ record. 

She doesn't start her car but instead grabs her purse and pulls out the envelope they gave her to look at the images inside again in private. They're black and white and not great quality, but the dark region in the center holds a white oblong collection of pixels that's theirs. They made those pixels when it had been snowing outside. They didn't exist before and now here they were--beautiful and alive and strong and she couldn't tear her eyes away. She loves them so much already that it made no sense. Nothing else in the world seemed to matter--not bills, not politics, not her job, not _anything_. This tiny little cute blob they created had her whole heart already. 

The other image is zoomed in where they looked at the heartbeat and she could just make out the shape of a little gummy bear—complete with head, body, tiny arms, and legs. She knew it probably didn't even have eyes or peachfuzz yet, but she was so lost in a daydream about dark eyes and dark hair that stuck up at all angles that she couldn’t care less about facts. She's not even sure how long she spent just daydreaming in her parked car. She missed Din something fierce, but knowing she had a piece of him with her made her feel better. She always joked that if she ever got pregnant she'd never be one of those ridiculous women who touched their bellies all the time, but she couldn't help but rest her hand over the lowest part of her abdomen that was still slightly sticky from the gel earlier. _Okay, so fine. She was one of those women who touched her belly. She couldn't help it._ She simply couldn't pull her hand away. She felt so protective of this little helpless thing she was responsible for nurturing for the next half a year. It was a big responsibility and not one she took lightly at all. It had been doing just fine without her knowing it was even there though--a testament to her body basically saying "we've got this" until she figured it out, but now that she _had_ figured it out, it was the focus of everything she did. The human body— _her_ body-- was amazing doing all this on autopilot. She felt the piece of folded up gauze and silk tape still stuck in the crook of her elbow when she got back in her car and pulled it off. It reminded her that she had another appointment for 24-hour blood work the next morning, but maybe she could fly out by lunchtime.

She made it back to work just in time to see her friend heading out for the day. After she locked the doors she approached her instead of continuing to the parking lot. 

" _Well_?" Cheryl asked, a little impatiently. She was likely as anxious as Cara was. She looked at her waiting for a reply, but the goofy indulgent smile on her face said more than words could have. Cara was never really a hugger, but she felt her friend’s arms around her and hugged her back. She certainly wasn't Din, but she wanted someone's arms around her and this was the best she had. 

"I'm happy for you," she hears her friend whisper against her shoulder. "I can see how happy you are. Don't worry about the business or any other details right now. We'll figure it all out. You just enjoy this time." The support of this woman who was the closest thing she had to family was so comforting. She might not have had her parents, but Cheryl was more than just her friend; she had been family for years. 

"I didn't know I could ever have this kind of happiness. It doesn't seem real,” she tells her friend. “Thank you, not just for fixing the scheduling today, but for everything."

"Gods, Cara, shut up. You're going to make me cry." That made them both laugh and wipe at their faces as they walked to the parking lot to head out.

She got home and read every page of the printout they had given her about what was taking place inside her and what she could expect in the coming days and weeks. She couldn't learn enough about this miracle she was harboring and she felt closer to it the more she learned. Before she called Din, she wanted to know as much as she possibly could in case she just panicked and blurted it all out over the phone. 

She waits until their regular time when she knows he's home from work so he won't expect anything is amiss. She'd run to the drugstore on the way home and grabbed gummy prenatal vitamins. She ate pretty healthy so the little cluster of cells probably had all the nutrients it desired, but it didn't hurt to make double sure. She popped one in her mouth and began to read until the sun went down and she grabbed her phone off the charger. 

"Hey." She greeted him as soon as he answered. _Tone it down Cara_ , she thought. _Act natural._

"Hey,” he greets her right back.

"You home?" she asked, as nonchalantly as she could muster.

"Yep. Got someone here who wants to talk to you almost as much as I do." She can practically see Alex jumping up and down beside Din in a bid to get to the phone. 

"How was your day?" she asks, before he inevitably loses the phone to the eager kid.

"It was good. Busy, but pretty easy. Yours?"

 _Phenomenal_. _Amazing. Unbelievable._ "It was great," she says, before he can ask any other questions to change the subject. "Hey, I was thinking. I know I said I'd try to come on the 4th of July but..."

"But you can't make it?" he guesses, effectively cutting her off mid-sentence. "If something came up, that's okay--I didn't tell Alex ye--"

"No-no," she interrupts him. "I....I was hoping I could come out there _sooner_.....if that's alright......if you're not busy that is." Why did she suddenly feel as nervous talking to him as she had months ago. She had no reason to be nervous. She willed herself to calm down. If she wasn't careful, she felt her secret would come spilling out of her mouth before she could stop it. She felt hyper aware of every part of her body; it was surreal. She forced her voice not to shake. She was excited and nervous, but just so _happy,_ and she wanted to share it with him but couldn't. It was like torture. 

"Of course, I'm not busy," he says over the phone. "I'd love to see you. You have another trip planned out this way?" 

"No, no work trip," she explains. "I just wanted to see you. Both of you."

“Just let me know when,” he says happily, as he tries to hold on the phone from the grabby hands all over him.

"What about tomorrow?” She hoped she sounded hopeful and excited and not frantic or rushed. She could almost imagine his surprised face on the other end of the line. She had more than enough time off. She could explain it away if he questioned her.

" _Tomorrow_?" he asks, clearly quite surprised at the surprise trip. "Wow. Okay, yeah. We'll clean up tonight, so you don't see how us men live like farm animals when you're not here."

She smiles, but before she can make a witty retort she hears Alex's voice as he makes a grab for the phone. “Is that Cara? Can I talk to her now?”

Din has to keep the boy from climbing up his torso like a tree trunk to get to the phone. "Just a minute you little monkey, we're trying to plan when she can come see us again.”

“When?” he asks his dad, with his smile on display that’s missing a second tooth since Cara last saw him. He had told her about it but wanted to show her the hole in person.

“Can you clean your room by tomorrow?” she heard him ask his son at his side.

“Tomorrow?” the boy asks, in a panic. “Yeah, I can start now.” He runs off before Din can even tell him where to start.

“Everything's okay, right?” he asks her, once Alex is out of earshot. "Not that I'm anything other than thrilled you're coming; it's just usually you can't travel without more notice. It feels ....I don't know....rushed."

“Maybe it is,” she says coyly, injecting some teasing honesty into her voice. “I want to rush and see you.” She knows telling him in person is the best option but being even slightly dishonest doesn’t sit well with her. She’s just withholding one small detail until she can see him and tell him face to face. She’s not hiding anything out of any malicious intent and she hopes he'd know that.

“Okay,” he says happily, letting his worry slip aside. "I'll never pass up a chance to see you."

“Okay.” She feels herself relax.

“Can I call you later,” he asks, “after dinner? We might have to go to the store and buy a broom....and some Clorox wipes. There's fingerpaint everywhere."

She smiles imagining what they’ve gotten up to. “You know I don't care if it's messy, right?”

"But _I_ care," he says. "I want it to look nice. It's a special occasion."

“What's the special occasion?” she can't help but ask.

“You are.” _Ugh. Her hormones couldn't handle the sweetness of this man._ She blinked back the moisture that was beginning to appear in her eyes. 

“You’re ridiculous, but okay. Call me later.”

.............

She tried staying awake for him to call but fell asleep as soon as she sat down on the couch. She woke up to her phone ringing.

"Hello?"

His warm voice greeted her on the other line. “Hi.”

“Hey,” she answered sleepily. “I missed you. Did you find a broom?”

"I bought two," he tells her, and laughs as he looks around the kitchen. "It's a two broom job—that’s how bad it is. Alex ‘helped’ by sweeping and the broom knocked over a coffee mug and it's in about twenty pieces. There's more mess now than when we started," he laughs. "My cleaning helper is scared of the vacuum, so it's just me. I am a one-man cleaning crew. Do my domestic skills make you hot?"

She's grinning so hard into her pillow her cheeks are hurting. " _So_ hot." Just hearing his adorable rambling made her feel warm and cozy enough to want to fall back asleep again. “I can't wait to see you.”

“Me too. You're staying a couple of days, right?”

“I can probably swing a week," she tells him. "There's a new guy who can cover my appointments.”

“Just let me know what time to meet you at the airport and I'll be there.”

She woke up just enough to pull up her flight and send it to him as an attachment.

She heard him say, “I love you” and she mumbled it back into the phone, but she was asleep again before he even hung up.

........................................

Alex runs at her but instead of letting him run full speed into her stomach she knelt down and let him wrap his arms around her neck. He'd all but thrown himself at her when she'd gotten within eyesight of the entrance to the short-term arrivals lot.  


She heard him talking a mile a minute as she let her face rest against his messy blonde hair and hugged him back. She buried her nose in the side of his face when he didn't seem to give any inclination he was letting go anytime soon. They talked everyday, but nothing could ever beat this. _Damn hormones_.

"Hey muffin boy." He covered his ticklish tummy at the mere suggesting she might go in search of it. 

“You going to tickle me, Cara?” he asks her, leadingly. She could tell what he hoped the outcome would be by the huge smile on his face.

"Maybe later. Don't worry, you're safe for now." It’d be so much more believable if she didn’t make a grab for his tummy just to make him cackle and bend over to defend it. She couldn't believe it. He actually looked taller to her. Had it really been seven weeks since she had to leave him when he begged her to stay? It feels like just yesterday and at the same time months ago as well.

Din chimes in before the tickle war can get started. "What about me?"

"I'll get to _you_ in a second," she tells him cheekily, and squeezes Alex one more time before he lets her go, so she can stand up. She's barely on her feet before Din's arms are wrapped around her and she feels herself relax in his firm embrace. "I love you," he says into her hair, against her ear. "I missed you so much." He can't seem to pull himself away from her.

"I love you too," she tells Din, directly against his neck. "I'm so happy to see you. I really missed you too." She holds him even tighter to make up for all the night's she wished he was there. Their last parting at the airport had been painful at best as their short time together came to a close, but this was the exact opposite--it was beautiful and warm and full of light and promised days together. It was like coming home. Not in the physical sense of four walls and a roof, but in the feeling of home she got when they were together and nothing in the world could touch their happiness. This is definitely what she had flown half across the country for. This was worth it--even the two times she almost threw up on the plane. Alex, not wanting to be left out, wrapped himself around Din's leg so he could look up at both of them. She gives Din a quick kiss on the lips before looking back down to the kid and the something he was holding in his hand. 

“Is this for me?” she asks. He’d almost forgotten all about it when he’d seen her but hands it over proudly once she draws his attention back to his ‘present’. She looks at the picture of her--rectangles for arms and legs, two eyes, and a smile. She didn't have hands or feet, or hair for that matter, but it was human-shaped and it said "cArA" underneath it. 

“This is amazing,” she declares. “Which one of you drew this?”

"I did," Alex said proudly, not catching the knowing shared smile between the adults. 

She picked him up to rest him on her hip before he gecko-ed up her like a giant tree frog and together they all started walking back to the car. Din reached down and held her free hand--the one not balancing the wiggly, talkative sack of potatoes on her hip--and she relished in how normal all this felt. She felt so much more at ease already even though the hard part wasn't even close to being over. They were on their way home though and just the thought of that made her nausea subside a little. 

Din buckles Alex in the back passenger seat where his car seat was latched in. The cute kid had told her she could sit in the backseat with him and she couldn't say no to that sweet hopeful face. She gives Din a much better kiss 'hello' when they walk around the trunk of the car to get into the driver side doors. The curious boy couldn't see them from his car seat, so she felt no hesitation whatsoever kissing Din like she had wanted to ever since she had left almost two long months ago. Her hands held his face while she enjoyed the feeling of his hands in her hair as they finally kissed more leisurely without an audience. He felt good, he smelled good and he tasted good. She couldn't wait until tonight when they'd have some time alone. She wanted to touch him all over. 

Din got a good look at her when he pulled back from their second kiss and smiled. She wondered if she looked different to him; she certainly _felt_ different and she had to agree that her face was more radiant and her hair less oily than normal. She wondered if he picked up on it too. Maybe he'd guess what she came all this way to tell him and she wouldn't have to find the courage to let him in on her secret she'd just carted wither her halfway across the country.

They get her stuff put away in Din's apartment and then they take a walk around the neighborhood together to enjoy the remaining hours of daylight. It's nice and warm, even with the sun starting to go down, and the fresh air is definitely what she needs. She's not sure she let go of his hand a single time during the entire hour and he was positively beaming at her being here again as he sneaks another kiss. He had clearly missed her since they last had to part ways and she had missed him terribly. Being wrapped up in him now with that smile directed at her, she wondered how they'd made it all these weeks apart. Every day had seemed longer than the one before it, but all that was forgotten when they wrapped their arms around each other again.

Back inside, he makes mac-n-cheese for his son, who gobbled it up so fast she's not sure he ate it or inhaled it, and then sets his sights on making dinner for the two of them. Before he starts, he presents two filled fluted glasses with great flourish. _He got champagne._ That was sweet, she thinks. He obviously got it for her.

She stares at the bubbles innocently climbing up the glass. Every little pop was like they were mocking her.

“ _tell him_ ” pop

“ _tell him_ ” pop

“ _tell him_ ” pop

He would get suspicious if she didn’t drink the special champagne he got just for her so she took a pretend sip and made an appreciative noise at how sweet she's sure it was. He must have gone to the store especially for her arrival, because he just happens to have all the ingredients for her favorite meal. She sees the lemons on the cutting board and the long flat pasta sitting on the counter. Smelling and occasionally licking a lemon wedge had been helpful to keeping her nausea at bay, so she figured this was ideal until she heard the crinkle of butcher paper and the distinct smell of shrimp filled the small kitchen. 

When he wasn't looking, she poured out a little of the bubbly alcohol down the sink. When he offered to top her off, she put off the offer of more champagne with a "maybe later" referring to after the kid was in bed. 

Din had made her a dinner he knew she loved--shrimp in a lemon caper sauce over linguine—and she normally wouldn’t have been more thrilled except for her tiny passenger who seemed like he was making himself known more and more by the hour. Suddenly every symptom she’d been having made so much sense. She knew the seafood was fresh, but the smell was so strong. She was hungry though and figured once she had something in her stomach it'd settle, so she dove into the pasta first before devouring the shrimp that suddenly smelled wonderful once they were covered in the buttery sauce. Even Alex ate some of it when he saw how much she liked it. 

She didn't want him to feel bad if she only ate a bite or two, but she ended up eating way more of the dinner than she should have. The feeling of a full stomach for the first time in days had been nice for approximately ninety seconds, but she regretted it when she spent the next hour puking until nothing came up but bile. Alex seemed worried from his position watching her from down the hall, which made her feel even worse. She wanted to read to him tonight and put him to bed, but Din had done it while she was sick to give her some privacy. She tried to keep as quiet as she could, but it was pretty much out of her control. 

Din came back to check on her after he checked on his son to make sure he was asleep. He knew food poisoning hit the whole household hard and fast so he wanted to be ready. They’d had Norovirus before, and he was still traumatized by it. "I put down a towel on the floor next to his bed in case he vomits. I feel fine, but you never know. I swear the shrimp were fresh. I'm so sorry."

“It tasted amazing," she assures him. "I really appreciate all the trouble you went to. I'd eat it again. It was so good, I jus--- " her explanation was interrupted when another round of retching overtook her and when she finally caught her breath and looked up, again Din was gone. He knew how much she hated being fussed over and how embarrassed she must have been. She felt awful for the mess, the smell, all of it. It's definitely not the romantic night she had planned. He must be so grossed out. _Come on little bean_ , she thinks. _Just give me an hour to tell him about you without puking._

He came in again later and she had her head resting on the cool tile of the bathtub--sitting in just her bra since her shirt had to come off. She'd unbuttoned and unzipped her pants and ripped her socks off too. She was sweating like crazy. He handed her a cup of ice. 

"I'm sorry dinner made you sick," he apologizes again." I feel so awful"

"It's okay," she insists to assuage his guilt. "It wasn't dinner....."

He's unconvinced, despite her attempt to try to relieve his guilty conscience for essentially giving her food poisoning. "You ate it and were sick ten minutes later,” he reminds her. “What else could it have been?"

She felt like that was her great opportunity--it was so perfect it seemed almost scripted. She didn't want to tell him on the bathroom floor, reeking of vomit, and half naked and sweaty, but she couldn't keep it a secret for another minute. He was clearly worried about her and she didn't want to prolong his worry.

"Grab me my purse, will you," she tells him. "I want to show you something."

He looks confused at the change of topic. He was wondering if he should take her to the 24-hour Urgent Care down the street and here she was wanting to show him something in her bag. He goes to the living room to fetch it and returns. She's managed to crawl off the floor to turn off the overhead fan so they don't have to talk quite so loudly. 

He hands it to her like she asked for, but he's also grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and he puts it around her shoulders. He figured that with Noro, she'd likely go from sweating to freezing once this got out of her system.

_Of course that adorable man brought her a blanket_ , she thinks. She wraps it tighter around her shoulders like armor as if it suddenly can impart some courage if she keeps it around her. "I had hoped to surprise you,” she starts awkwardly, “but it seems someone doesn't want to be kept secret anymore." He's watching her closely to figure out where she's going with this and she grabs the protective Ziploc bag with the black and white print out in it. The slick glossy paper in her hands again felt comforting on her fingertips. She’d certainly held it and stared at it enough in the last twenty-four hours…. There were visible smudged fingerprints along the edges from where she couldn't keep her hands off it.

She holds out the piece of paper and Din takes it to get a closer look at what she finds so important. “What is this?"

He looks so adorably confused and concerned and maybe even a little hopeful; like maybe he's worried he could have gotten it wrong and doesn't want to be disappointed if he jumps to conclusions too soon. 

She’s too busy trying to study his reaction to even answer, so he asks again. "Cara, what is this?" His eyes are all over the piece of paper, from the information at the top to the image underneath the demographics.

She points to the tiny white blob inside the circle of black. “ _That_ is your baby--the little gummy bear that's making me sick all the time."

It takes him a second to process what she said before he can speak. "Wha--? What do you mea-- _really_?" He sounded so amazed and tongue-tied. 'Blown away,' was a much better description, if she was honest. 

"Yeah. I know it must be a shock,” she says, and gets quiet. She was gauging his reaction to see what he really thought. She wanted him to be honest and take his time no matter how her happiness was on the verge of bubbling over the surface any minute.

He’s completely quiet for what feels like forever, though it was probably five seconds at most. She can see it dawning on him as an emotion crawls up his face. Disbelief and shock are being replaced with amazement and wonder. She could actually feel his happiness radiating off of him and the dimple on his left side was deeper than she had ever seen it on his smiling face.

He takes her hand with the hand that wasn’t still holding onto the black and white picture in question. “A good shock." He’s surprised he was able to string three words together so successfully. He’s pretty sure his brain short-circuited when he held the picture she seemed so taken with. Of course, he knew what it was, though he’d never seen one up close like this in person before. Still, he’d seen enough television to recognize an ultrasound when he saw one. Even if he didn’t, the smile on Cara’s face would have made it clear that he was looking at something special.

He lets out an incredulous laugh as it settles into his consciousness. This is unreal. “A _baby_? _Really_?”

She squeezes his hand back. “Really.”

“Woooow,” he says, in a breathless way that demonstrated how little air was left in his lungs. It sinks in and a knowing look dawned on his face. “That's why you wanted to come visit. You're pregnant.” It still kind of sounds like a question but he's sounding more and more sure. "When did you find out?"

She nods, forcing the surge of emotion at the complete wonder and awe in his voice. “I just found out yesterday, I didn't want to tell you over the phone. I hope you're not upset.”

He lets out this incredulous sound. “Up-upset?” he laughs disbelievingly, and runs his hand down his face. "Cara I--" he tugs at his hair nervously, mussing it terribly, and tries to form words. "I'm in shock, but I'm so happy. I just can't believe it. This is amazing."

His enthusiasm was contagious and put her mind at ease. “Really?" She's smiling almost as intensely as he is by this point.

“Really," he says strongly. He rests the picture on his leg to touch her stomach where she's unbuttoned her pants. It's still so flat but there's a baby in there somewhere. It's amazing.

She ends up excitedly showing him all the paperwork while they're still sitting on the floor. _It's real_. He sees her the last four digits of her SSN, her name, and her birthdate. At the bottom are the levels of HCG 24-hours apart and the estimated time since conception that was calculated from the measurements taken during the ultrasound. They didn't really need the doctor to figure that one out based on her last flight to Chicago, but it was wonderful to see the little bean's size was right where it should be.

He hugs her and he kisses her lips and laughs when she pulls back self-consciously. "Don't kiss me, I'm gross." _She hadn't even brushed her teeth, what was he thinking?_

"I don't care," he says and kisses her again. "You just told me you're having a baby. We're having a baby!" He sounds like he's about to burst.

"We're having a baby," she repeats, with some of his own wonder tinging her voice. It's the first real time she's said it aloud. It's so simple and so life changing at the same time. It feels right. It doesn't feel as if things are moving too fast or too slow, but like they were always meant to be like this. He hugs her so tight, right there on the bathroom floor. A thought just dawned on him though and he pulls back to look at her face.

"It wasn't the shrimp?"

She laughs. “No, it definitely wasn't the shrimp." She feels light enough to finally make a joke. "It was more likely those polar bear pajamas, now that I think back.”

His grin is much more crooked than it was a second ago. "I told you they were special."

Din had laughed when she told him her due date was only a week before Christmas. "I guess he’s getting his wish after all," he jokes, before looking her in the eyes. "We _both_ are."

She rests her forehead against his. _We all are....._

_............................_


	2. Photographs

………………………………

June, July, and August were filled with firsts.

They’d waited to tell Alex their exciting news, despite them both wanting to tell him almost immediately—they knew he’d be excited, but Cara had said she heard it was bad luck to announce it before the twelve-week mark in June so they kept the secret between them until then. She still remembered the hesitant look of suspicion on his face as he stared at her stomach when they sat him down and told him. The poor kid must have thought it was a trick of some sort and didn't believe it was real at first--the only image they had to show him of the seven-week jellybean certainly didn’t help. They pointed out as much anatomy as they could but the little limbs were so small and it didn’t look especially like a baby yet-- _their beautiful little blob_.

“Is he _okay_?” he asks them with a worried voice, as he studies the picture closely, squinting at it.

“What do you mean?” she asked him, sitting him in her lap. “He’s just fine. Or _she_ , we don’t know which yet.”

Alex seemed to glance right over the uncertainty about the gender. “Is he supposed to look like a tadpole?" he asks, hesitantly. "Why does he only have one leg?”

Cara and Din had to squint as well at the image to see it from his perspective…..

“Ohhh, I get it," she says, as she finally sees the shape he must be seeing. "He has two arms and two legs but you’re looking at him from the side so you can only see one,” she tells him. “All babies kind of look like tadpoles at first; he’s just fine.” The baby was still curled in on himself with a big head and tiny limb buds barely visible in the grainy image so she can see why Alex was concerned his brother was a tiny amphibian. To put the poor worried boy at ease she grabs her phone and looks up a growth chart that's appropriate for someone his age. Together they looked at the shape a baby takes from the smallest blob all the way through a chubby full-term infant. Alex seemed much more at ease once he realized that all babies look like this when they're little.

“Every day he’ll get bigger and bigger and the next picture you see he’ll look more like a baby,” she assures him. Din had done the hard part of getting his son to sit still for the talk and been the one to tell him Cara had a baby in her tummy, but it appeared she handled the rest of the explanation just fine.

Alex didn' seem worried any longer. “I don’t care if he looks funny. I still can’t wait to play with him.”

After looking at the chart and the nine pictures corresponding to each month of development, Alex seemed to understand the timeline better when they told him he’d have to wait to have a baby brother or sister until the end of the year. Not only did he _understand_ , but he also told anyone and everyone he came across--from crossing guards to librarians. Din even had an interesting surprise conversation with Rosie when Alex proudly told her his daddy and Cara were having a baby. The older woman's eyebrows rose so far up her forehead Din was worried they might be stuck there permanently. He couldn’t remember the last time his face had felt so hot or the last time he had felt so defensive about something that mattered this much to him.

There was only the slightest hardship they came across through the whole life-changing event, and that was the geographical distance between them. Din knew from the moment he realized he was in love with her that at some point the distance would be hard, and that time was now. It was hard being apart for so many of the following months and so many milestones he only got to see through video chat or a phone call. The first time she felt the little thumping that was distinctly _new_ and entirely foreign, she had been laying in bed on her back summoning her strength to get ready for work. She ended up calling Din to tell him about it and was twenty minutes late as she wiggled and shifted on her back to try to get it to happen again. He knew he couldn't possibly feel it yet if she just felt the tiny flutter herself, but it didn’t help him from feeling guilty that he wasn’t there to try. If he was _there_ , he could have taken her out to breakfast or something and gotten her whatever she was craving to celebrate. 

Din had a cherished copy of the ultrasound pictures on the fridge, but she knew he felt guilty he couldn’t accompany her to her regular doctor appointments and share in the magic she tried to convey to him over the phone, so she had asked her OBGYN if she could have another scan in Chicago. The problem was insurance wouldn’t cover it without medical necessity and she didn’t have a provider in Illinois anyway. Instead, the doctor surprised her by suggesting one of those boutique ultrasound places that give you the chance to get 3D images above and beyond what the doctor provides for medical purposes. She thought she’d surprise Din with the experience for his August birthday; well, _that_ and the other gifts she had already dragged across the country with her in her checked bag.

...................

Din and Alex sit with her in the waiting room that feels much more like a spa than an office. She fills out the paperwork while Alex walks around poking at everything that isn't behind plastic or glass. 

**'Purely for entertainment value,'** the paper reads. **Not intended to diagnose or treat** ….blah blah blah. She'd sign whatever they wanted, she just wanted to see their bean again.

**Age?___**

**Date of last menstrual period___**

**Any complications to date?___**

**Medical history___**

**Receiving routine prenatal care?___**

**Do you know the sex? ___Check here if you are interested in finding out. ___**

She filled out everything, but left that last part blank.

“Hi, I’m Jenna,” a blonde woman with corkscrew blonde curls said as she appeared in the open doorway. She was dressed in blue scrubs and comfortable looking shoes. “I’ll be performing your scan today. You ready to come on back?” She was young but seemed experienced enough as she looked over the paperwork quickly.

“It says here you don’t want to find out what you’re having? Is that correct?” she asks, to double check. “You’re far enough along, we could certainly tell if you wanted.”

Cara looks back at Din just to make sure and he nods. “No. We want to be surprised," she confirms. "We don’t want to find out.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure to stay away from those bits.”

“It’s a boy,” Alex chimes in when he figures out what they’re talking about.

“You sound pretty sure,” she claims with a kind smile. “Are you the big brother?”

“Yeah," he pipes up proudly, "That’s my brother in there.”

Din laughs, but the nice lady buys into it. “Big brother seems pretty convinced,” Jenna says, with a chuckle of her own.

"We don't know why he's so sure," Din says, ruffling his son's hair, "but he's unshakeable."

The woman leading them back to the room seems nothing but tickled by his confidence. "Kids are usually eerily right about these things.”

“We’re just assuming it’s a boy until it’s proven otherwise,” Cara clarifies. The whole conversation seems surreal to Din. Both he and Cara used the term ‘big brother’ all the time, but hearing it from a stranger felt so natural that it gave him pause. His son was going to be a brother.

Jenna turns her attention to her expecting client. “What do you call this little one?" she asks her. "I don’t want to accidentally use a pronoun by accident and make you think it was on purpose or there was some secret meaning in my slip up. I usually call all babies ‘he’, so if I accidentally slip and say ‘he’ I’m not making any statement about the X or Y chromosome, just so you know."

“We’ve been calling him Bean,” Cara tells her sheepishly. They hasn't really used that name around other people before, but the other woman didn't make fun of it at all. 

“Okay, let’s find this little bean then.”

Cara makes herself comfortable on the fluffy lounger and the ultrasound tech hands her some water. She removes her shoes and socks for her before putting her swollen feet in a hot towel and placing an extra pillow under her neck for comfort. Cara felt like she might turn to jelly any minute. _Okay, she can get used to this_ , she thinks.

Din scoots close so he can hold her hand and he scoops Alex onto his lap. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you sit here with me so you can see better,” he says, as Jenna angles the screen more towards them.

The lights go out and Din sees a perfect profile of their baby appear on the screen. It's so different from the pictures he has at home--so much more developed and perfect than he thought possible. He's watched Cara get bigger every time he’s seen her and intellectually he knows there’s a baby in there, but this makes it real. Maybe ‘ _surreal’_ is a better word. This is who he’s been touching all this time when he places his hands on her growing belly. He had worried maybe he wouldn’t feel that instant connection he heard people talk about, but he totally does. In fact, he’s shocked by how much he feels he already knows and loves this tiny person. He’s connected to this little bean already and fiercely protective of him. This visual of seeing him kick and turn and stretch only makes him all the more bonded. He eyes the plastic wand as it pushes a bit harder into Cara’s abdomen, but she doesn’t seem concerned, so he holds his tongue. He hoped this lady knew what she was doing and was gentle enough with their precious cargo.

Jenna is patient and indulges him going through everything she sees and pointing out every detail to him which would be obvious to most people. "Here’s the little face, nose, and there's the little hands up against your bean’s cheeks. Here’s the round little belly and the legs and feet. You can see all the little toes." Din couldn't believe how tiny and perfectly round they were. He counted all ten and they were adorable--he wanted to touch them. She turns a knob and he feels all the air leave his lungs as the sound of the rapid little heartbeat fills the room. Unlike the doctor’s office which only listens for ten or fifteen seconds to take a measurement, Jenna lets it play for the rest of their visit so they can bask in it. He squeezes Alex tighter as he feels his own boy’s strong heartbeat thrumming in his neck where his face is resting against him. He could feel Cara’s in her wrist if he turned her hand over and he’d be able to feel his own heartbeat if he placed his hand on his chest, but he doesn’t care about that. His heart isn't even his anymore. It belongs to these three people he loves more than anything. His own heartbeat pales in comparison to theirs.

Cara’s seen all this before, but what is amazing to her--what every dollar of this was worth--was the look of adoration and love on Din’s face. She was watching him with only occasional glances to the screen when she couldn't help it. He looked so amazed and so proud that this little person was theirs that it made everything worth it--every bout of all-day sickness, her sore breasts, and even her swollen feet that hardly fit into her running shoes anymore.

“Are you sure that’s my baby brother?” Alex asks, uncertainly. “He still looks weird, but less like a tadpole I guess.”

“Weird, how?” Jenna asks, while continuing with the scan without missing a beat. This clearly wasn’t her first time dealing with curious kids.

“He looks kinda like an alien now.”

She lets out a laugh. “Well, that’s because it’s kind of seeing through him with this machine,” she explains. “Come over here and flip this switch for me and you’ll get a better picture--less _alien_ and more _baby,_ I promise.”

The view changes to 3D and even Cara can’t help gut gasp. In the last 3D image she had there were hardly discernible features to speak of, but _this_ ……. _this_ was amazing. It was as if she could reach out and touch their little face and hands. She could imagine taking turns with Din kissing those fat cheeks.

Alex was standing right next to the screen when the baby who finally looked like a baby flipped right in front of him. “Whoa! He moved!” he exclaimed. "And he looks like a baby now!"

“Oh my God,” Cara exclaims, when the view moves up to zoom in on their face and she sees the perfect little nose, ears, and pouty mouth appear on the screen. It was like they were looking right at him. One tiny fist makes its way in front of his tiny perfect lips and it looks like he’s sucking on it, if that’s even possible at this stage. This was the face of their baby--the face they'd get to look at for hours and kiss every inch of in a few short months. He already looked so very much like Din--it was remarkable.

“Oh my _gosh_ ,” Alex corrects her, automatically.

“You’re right, kiddo. Sorry,” she apologizes for her language. “Oh my _gosh_. Din, look at him…..” Din wanted to say something clever but found himself unable to speak. Something had lodged in his throat and he could only nod in agreement of her wonder. When he didn't immediately say anything in return, she turned her head away from the screen to look at his face and the reason for his silence became apparent. His mouth was pressed into a tight line and his cheeks were obviously shiny and wet. He must have been holding back tears before losing the silent battle. She rubs her hand across the cheek closest to her and asks him quietly, "are you okay?" He nods, not yet trusting his voice and turns her hand over to plant a kiss against the soft skin off her wrist. This was the best communication he could muster to assure her that his tears were those of happiness and not sadness.

The ultrasound tech didn't seem to notice their private moment or did a good job of pretending like she didn't. “I’m going to try to get you some good pictures, if we can get the little bean to lower their arms away from that sweet face,” Jenna tells them, and moves the wand around at different angles before stopping and reaching toward the counter behind her. She hands Cara another bottle from the minifridge. “Here have some water.” When ice cold water doesn’t convince the little one to come out of hiding, she rolls Cara back and forth a little but it seemed the little one was camera shy now that they were trying to photograph him.

Alex reaches out and touches her belly before talking to it. “Hey, can you put your hands down for just a minute?” He demonstrates quite animatedly, by putting his hands down at his sides. "Like this...."

Cara looked at Din and smiled in the dim light. She was about to laugh at his boy's sweet but futile attempt, until suddenly that tiny perfect face was completely unobstructed and visible for the first time in ten minutes _. Well damn……………_

She was thankful Din got the chance to bond with the baby at the office visit. He seemed positively smitten after that afternoon, if it was even possible to be more in love than before. They ended up paying for ten beautiful glossy 3D images and Jenna was even nice enough to let them grab a prohibited cell phone picture of Alex in his absolutely grinning glory next to his ‘brother’ on the screen. Of all the high-resolution pictures they got of that tiny, sweet face that was a combination of both of them, the first cell phone picture of the kids together was definitely her favorite.

That experience had been able to tide them over until her next visit weeks later, though they desperately wanted to be together more often. Din found it harder and harder to be apart from her when things were changing so quickly, but at least the first time she felt movement strong to feel from the outside it had been during one of her visits. She was thankful little Bean decided to wait until she was visiting to make his presence known. Din had been sitting next to her on the couch and had his hand around her waist to rest against her stomach. She still felt nauseous from eating too much buttery popcorn and said the warm pressure from his hand helped, so there it stayed for the remainder of the movie. Din was enthralled with the plot of the movie until he felt a thump right under his hand and he pulled back at the new feeling he knew didn't come from Cara. The rest of her stomach hadn't jumped or twitched like with a hiccup--just that one spot. Cara had looked at him in wonder when it was clear he felt the movement she was so accustomed to all hours of the day and night by now. "You actually felt that?" she asked, hopefully, as she placed his hand back on her abdomen that had been hanging in the air between them in shock.

"Yeah. Was that--?"

"That was _him_ ," she confirms excitedly, totally thrilled he got to feel it. "He moved right against your hand." 

He put his other hand on her stomach too. "That's the second time you used the word 'him'. You sure you don't know something I don't?" he asked her with a teasing smirk.

"Of course not," she assures him. "We agreed to be surprised, but Alex is so adamant that he's sure, it's kind of growing on me."

Alex had fallen asleep at the other end of the couch, and to avoid jostling him Din almost inadvertedly knocked Cara off just to get in a better spot in hopes of feeling it again. He put both hands on her stomach and waited, but didn’t feel the baby push back again. She could sense his disappointment at the lack of a repeat performance. "He moves a lot when I lay down," she says, and takes another large gulp of ice water sitting on the coffee table. Cold drinks and sugar usually seemed to get him moving.

"Let's go lay down then," Din proposes. Whatever _'he' wants to get him moving._

Cara stands to head to the bedroom while Din goes to pick up the sleeping boy curled against the armrest to put him in his bed. He gets his arms under him just fine, but the change in position wakes him up.

"Can I sleep with you, Cara?" he asks groggily from Din's shoulder, barely even awake enough to put words together.

Cara looks at Din and they exchange a look. They had been hoping to spend some time _together_ , but she couldn’t say no to that sweet boy. "Sure, kiddo."

Din puts him in the queen-sized bed instead of his own smaller kid-sized one and he guesses he'll have to wait to sleep beside Cara like he's been longing for the last few weeks. He doesn't mind sleeping on the couch and is resigned to it, but Alex changes everything. "Daddy, you’re staying too, _right_?"

"You want to sleep with both of us?" He asks in surprise.

"Yeah, sleep with us Daddy," Alex tells him, leaving no room for objections. "Cara gives the best cuddles." Well, the boy had spoken it seemed. They'd slept separately in case it gave any sense of impropriety, but it seemed that wasn't a concern at all. That ship had probably already sailed anyway given her current condition. 

The sleepy blond boy crawls to the middle of the bed, but as soon as he zonked out Din moved him to the side so he could cuddle Cara instead. Every single night they got to fall asleep together was a gift and he didn't take a single one for granted as his hand splayed over her rounded stomach. He couldn't get enough of it. That was the first time they'd slept in the same bed officially where Alex was aware of it and he wasn't sure he could ever go back. Cara had no problem falling asleep with her favorite people creating a cocoon of warmth around her but Din stayed up for quite some time catching the slight movements under his palm she promised would happen when she laid down. She was right--he felt it many more times over the next half hour until the little one settled down as well. He'd have to ask her what it felt like to her. It was amazing to _him_ \--rhythmic at times and sporadic at others--as if this tiny person already had a personality and knew them each by their touch. The tiny thumps were especially frequent near the mattress when she laid on her side. The ever-growing bean must not like the intrusion on his space. Din's daydreaming came to a close and he was glad he'd moved between Alex and Cara when a series of feet and knees landed on his back as the boy dreamed and stretched. He'd have to keep in mind Alex threw knees and elbows like a pro wrestler when he slept in the larger bed. 

Getting to sleep beside her the whole night was amazing and they'd likely never go back now that Alex encouraged the warm family cuddles. They'd have to find a few minutes alone if they wanted to be intimate, but once they were sure Alex was alseep they could move him to his own bed and he'd be none the wiser. That boy slept like the dead and they could carry him back to the bigger bed with them again before he woke up in the morning. They ended up all sleeping in until almost ten the next morning with how cuddly and warm they were all snuggled under the blankets together. Din and Cara were totally wrapped up in each other and Alex scooted up against them in his sleep. She thought this single moment of peace with their whole family cuddled together was worth the whole trip just by itself. When the pressure on her bladder wouldn't let her stay in bed any longer, she decided to get up and start breakfast.

.................

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear from you!  
> Chapter 3 is coming soon: An Important Question
> 
> Until then...... :)


	3. An Important Question

Chapter 3 An important question

..........

Every time she had to leave it got harder and harder. She knew when the baby came in December, they’d spend months together without separating, but it still seemed so far away. They’d talked about all the ways they could make that work and decided that them staying in Chicago together instead of L.A. for a few months would be less disruptive to Alex, so that's the option they chose to plan toward--eventually they'd move out West once they got a handle on things with the new baby and Alex finished out his school year. 

The summer had ended up flying by both literally and figuratively. Cara had flown out to visit every month until September when Din had surprised her by saying he and Alex were flying out to meet her in L.A. instead. Alex couldn't have been more thrilled about the whole prospect and all but tackled her in LAX this time.

The sight-seeing trip really let him dip his toe in the water of the new city and they let him take the lead for what he wanted to visit or learn more about. It was also a bit of an experiment to get a feeling for how he'd adjust to such a big change, so they tried to make it as fun as possible so he'd look forward to it. To show him (and Din as well) how amazing it could be to move to Los Angeles, she took them to the zoo, the museums, and the aquarium. The beach and the ocean were a revelation to both Alex and his dad since the little boy had never seen the ocean before and Din had only ever seen the Atlantic once when he was in his twenties. The waves were especially strong that day, so Alex didn’t get to go in deeper than his waist, but he thought it was amazing nonetheless. They built sandcastles after they ate the lunch they had packed and even buried him in the sand when he pretended to be asleep. They went out to eat that might near the water, and after, they returned to the sand with flashlights and nets at dusk to catch crabs and see what came out of the tidal pools. 

The three of them had spent the entire day in the sun and the sand just relishing this chance to simply be together and spend quality time as a family. They’d all spent time together in Illinois, but this was the first time she got to share her home with these people who had come to mean so much to her. If everything went according to plan, eventually they’d all live together _here,_ so she tried her hardest to give them a good impression of her city so they’d want to move there with her. She felt nervous they might not like it and Din would believe Chicago provided a better place for Alex to grow up, but he had confided in her later that night after Alex fell asleep in his lap on the couch, that she didn’t have to try so hard. Din convinced her they both really loved it there (it was a much better city for having outdoor fun, for example), but even if they didn’t fall in love with it immediately, they loved _her_ , and they’d move anywhere it meant they could all be together.

The following day after they all slept in, she proudly brought the two of them to the fitness center and Alex was excited by absolutely everything. He found her name on one of the doors all by himself and she let him show his dad to her office. Din felt in awe when he saw she had a framed picture of the three of them next to the paper flowers he had made her on her desk and not much else. It was clear what was important to her from her minimally decorated office space. There were a few awards on the wall and some pictures of her when she was fighting on the circuit regularly. He picked out a picture of her and her trainer Mike where they were both grinning and his arm was around a sweaty Cara in the middle of a ring. She must have just won a match. He smiled at seeing her candidly over the years and finally seeing a visual of all the events she had told him about, but it was his and Alex's picture on her desk that really stood out to him. 

The whole place was like a playground to the rambunctious boy and she showed him how to use some of the equipment that wasn’t otherwise occupied. It was hilarious watching him try to pick up the lightest free weights with his little arms, but he loved the treadmill and said he felt like a hamster he saw at the pet store on one of those wheels. To their amazement, he monkeyed up the ropes and netting and the little rock wall like a pro with natural kid agility that existed without any training or practice required. The floor was padded and the few times he fell he sprung right back up in a way any adult’s joints would be envious of. Cara and Din stood back and chatted with some of her co-workers and made introductions while keeping one eye on Alex as he explored before returning to their side and pointed toward the adjoining room where the more hand-to-hand training took place. He stood transfixed as he watched two of the other trainers sparring in the ring.

"Are they really fighting?" he asked, when they landed a couple of nasty blows on each other.

"They're just sparring. It's like play fighting," she explains. "They do it to practice and get better."

"Do they get hurt?"

She kneels down next to him—a maneuver that was getting harder the larger she got. "Nope. See how they have on all that padding on their arms and legs," she points out to him. "They have those helmets too like when you ride your bike, but they're to protect their faces." She didn't want to say that they would take all that off for a real fight. If he ended up ever showing any interest in her sport, she'd explain what rules they strictly follow and what sportsmanlike conduct was and other tenants like respect that are just as important as how hard you can punch. For now he can think it's perfectly safe. 

"Wow," he says, putting two and two together. "You do that too? Like the pictures in your office?"

"Well, not right now," she answers, as she rubs her stomach, "but I'll do it again, I'm sure."

He looked back at her again. "Do they hurt _you_?"

_He was such a sweet kid_. "Nope. Don't worry kiddo. It's all for fun. Nobody gets hurt.” That was a necessary lie. He was such an empathetic kid. He wouldn't even step on a worm on the sidewalk and she didn't want him to lose that for anything.

"Can I come to work with you again one day?" he asks hopefully, as they make their way back toward the front..

That got a smile out of her. "Any time you like. You _and_ your dad."

Before they headed out, she introduced Din and Alex to several more people she worked alongside and they all _oohed_ and _ahhed_ over how strong Alex's handshake was and he drank it all up. So many people were interested to see this other side of Cara they never got to see at work. She was always _nice_ , but she could be a bit of a hardass at times so it was a surprise to see her so happy and at ease around these two new faces. She purposefully saved Cheryl for last. Din admitted his hands had been sweaty meeting someone who was important to her, but of course Cheryl loved him. She'd been worried about meeting him too, she later admitted to Cara. She hoped he was really the nice guy Cara claimed he was, and not an asshole for Cara's sake, but there was no need to worry—her friend wasn’t being duped or catfshed after all. He was kind and polite, not to mention humble and funny and she could see how much he loved Cara just by looking at his face. She let out a sigh of relief that he was really as genuine as her friend had made him sound all these months. She had been worried about this long-distance relationship her dear friend had fallen so hard for, but after meeting him and his son, she was no longer worried. Cara deserved every bit of this family she was glowing from and Cheryl's only regret was that she hadn't found this life years ago.

That night, Cara's townhouse felt cramped with all three of them (three and a half), but wonderfully cozy. There won't be just the three of them much longer though, she thinks, and her place is definitely too small for the soon to be four of them, so she makes a mental note to double down on finding a realtor. They'd need a place with at least three bedrooms instead of one and at least two bathrooms—though two and a half or three would be better, and a fenced-in yard. Alex would love a yard. All kids should have a safe outdoor space and she was determined to give him that even if she had to compromise elsewhere with the fixtures or appliances. After Alex fell asleep in her bed where they'd all be sleeping, she and Din had stayed up looking at houses on the market just to get on the same page with what they were looking for. They narrowed it down a little to the areas they'd focus their search where the schools were good and the commute wouldn't be terrible. It was much easier to compare notes and laugh at the truly terrible ones with the blue shag carpet and wood paneling in person than over the phone.

The one with the naked women wallpaper in the burgandy carpeted bathroom had been her personal favorite and she was sure it would feature in her nightmares for some time to come. She laughed so hard when Din tried to convince her he actually _liked_ that atrocity, until even he couldn't keep up the charade any longer and laughed alongside her in bed. After they got out their snickering, looking at the places that were actually contenders--modern, clean, and spacious--was easier than she thought. Once Alex was snoring, it was simple to sit just the two of them staying up all night chatting and laughing and talking like they wished they could do all the time. There wasn't a second she wished to be apart from the blond-headed kid sleeping beside them, but the rare few minutes they got to be just _them_ were treasured too.

..................................

Early October

She's going to arrive in Chicago for Alex's Fall/Halloween festival at school on the 25th and Din and his son are getting ready for her visit. She's huge now from all the pictures and videos they share on a daily basis and this would be her last trip before she had to get permission to fly from here on out. The week before she was set to come out Din had been busy getting all the pieces in place for his surprise.

"Hey buddy, can you sit with me a minute? I have something I wanted to talk to you about." He pulls the boy into his lap who seems to get heavier and heavier by the day. 

"I cleaned my room, like you said," he argues grumpily, before his dad can even start about the state of his toys.

"I know you did. It looks great” he praises him, “but actually I wanted to ask you about something else."

"Like what?" the boy asks suspiciously.

"Well……." Din faltered. He had no idea how to word this in a way a child would understand so he'd just give it his best shot. "Do you _like_ Cara?" he asks the boy in his lap.

"Yeah. I like her a lot," he answers easily. "She's coming back, _right_?" The uncertainty Din heard in his voice gave him pause. The fact that Alex even thought for a second she might not come back or walk out of their lives made him feel sick.

"Of course!" he says quickly, before Alex can worry or assume the worst. "She's coming next week. We've been counting down the days on the fridge."

Alex seems to relax slightly at that. "Okay. Good." 

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about though," he continues.

"Okay," Alex agrees, as he gets more comfortable on his lap. 

Din tries to be casual but there's so much riding on this conversation. "So, do you like it when she gets to come stay with us?" he asks.

"Yeah," he hears. "I just wish she didn't have to go back so much."

_Perfect, Din thinks. That was the perfect lead-in...._

"Me too, kiddo," he tells him. "Hey, you know how Ms. Rosie said Cara's my girlfriend?"

"Yeah....?"

"Well, sometimes when somebody daddy's age has a girlfriend, you want to be more than that if you know you really like each other. Sometimes you get married and live together all the time and become one bigger family instead of two," he tries to explain in terms a child, albeit a bright one, can understand and relate to. "Does that make sense?"

Those big blue eyes are staring through him. "Yeah."

"Well, what do you think if I asked Cara to...... marry........me? She'd be your mom and live with us all the time. What do you think?"

"Isn't she kinda like my mom already?" his boy asks, innocently. There are times Din forgets how little he still is and this is one of them.

"Of course. She loves you very much," he tells his son. "But if we get married she'd be my wife and your mom officially for your school, and soccer, and all the boring adult stuff you don't have to worry about. You and me and Cara and the new baby--how does that sound to you?"

Din can see the wheels turning in his smaller head. "But aren't we family now?" he retorts. It's hard to believe he's only known Cara for just under a year. It feels like she's always been here--like she's always been a part of their tiny yet growing family. 

"You're right,” he admits. "It wouldn't really change anything for us. You surprise me sometimes. You're such a big kid. What happened to my baby?" he muses, as he ruffles his fluffy hair. "It would be for everyone else to see, that's all."

"She'd be my mom at school too? Like the other kids' moms?" he asks. "I'd have one too?"

 _That hurt more than he thought it would_. It was like being punched right in the gut. He can't help but squeeze his son a bit tighter. "Yeah. Just like that," he answers, trying to swallow down whatever's lodged in his throat. His eyes were damp too. Alex never knew what it was like to have two parents, and though Din had always done his best, he knows there's something different about having a mother that he couldn't manage to replicate. As much as he cherishes the years they spent just the two of them, he almost hopes Alex forgets some of the more stressful times before Cara came along. Everything was better, fuller, _warmer_ with her in the picture. It was certainly easier to laugh and have fun with her there. It wasn't just the two of them against the world surviving day to day. They were really living now and Din couldn't be more happy watching Alex blossom into a happier and more confident kid every day. Cara's love and nurturing and just her presence alone played a big role in that. 

"Nothing will change between you and me ever, it's just that Cara will be there all the time," he explains, in case his son was somehow worried he would get less of his attention or something along those lines. "Do you have any questions for me?" 

Alex thinks about it for a long time. Din could only imagine all the interesting questions of various scenarios he was coming up with in that mind of his, but he surprised him with his only question's simplicity. "Do I get to call her ‘mom’?" he asks, after deciding that's the only question he had.

Din smiled at him. "Of course you can, if that's what you want. She'd love that. But you don't have to," he assures him. "You can keep calling her Cara......whatever you want."

He can see his son really thinking about it; maybe concentrating more than he ever has to make a decision.

"So, what do you think?" he asks, trying to lighten the mood. "Should we keep her? She'd get to live with us all the time."

He appreciates the fact that his son is really being mature and thoughtful about this whole thing, but the anticipation is killing him. He truly wants to know what Alex thinks, not just the answer he thinks his dad wants to hear. 

"I won't do it if you don't want me too," he tells his son honestly. "It's been me and you for such a long time, I want you to be honest." It would kill him if he said he didn't want them to get married, but he'd respect what made his son happy. Cara would want Alex to be happy too; more than them having a piece of paper with their names on it. He was lucky Alex wanted the same thing he did.

"I want Cara to be my mom," he decides simply. "I'm happy when she's here. You're much happier with her here too."

He can't hide his amusement as he sighs at the honesty of his kid's observation." I _am_ happy when she's here," he tells him, "but you will always make me happier than anyone else on this planet. I love you more than anything and I want you to know that, no matter what happens."

"I love you too, but I'm still glad you found her one day on the phone."

"Me too." He couldn't help but laugh at Alex's explanation of how he must have met her. To him, one day out of the blue she was simply a nice voice on the phone who came to be a part of their lives.

"So, you're on board with all this?" he asks. "I have your approval?"

"Yeah. But I think you should have done it a long time ago," his son responds. Cara had already asked Din how he felt if once they were married, she were to start the petition for adoption to truly be Alex's mom. Of course it would be Alex's decision, but he would be so happy to give her the go-ahead now. They would finally be a family in every way: a family in their love for one another, a family in this life lived together, and finally a family on paper. He always worried he was moving too fast for his son, but Alex's response just proved the opposite. He laughs and feels properly embarrassed that his own kid thinks he moved too slow. "Point taken." _I just got schooled on romance by my kid_ , he thinks. 

"Keep it a secret between just us, okay? I want to surprise her," he tells the kid who can never manage to keep a secret for anything. He hopes he can keep this one though--it's only for a few days, after all. 

"Like the cake we made for her birthday?" he asks, innocently.

" _Exactly_ like that," his dad explains. "Except this time, let's not tell her about it as soon as you see her, okay?"

"Okay. I can do it."

"I know you can, kiddo. I believe in you."

…………..

She comes early enough to make it to the Fall festival at his school on the 25th. Din and Alex are cowboys, and while Alex is the cutest cowboy she’s ever laid eyes on, she has a very different reaction to Din’s getup. She finds it incredibly sexy, despite her best efforts to pretend otherwise. _Damn pregnancy hormones--she hasn’t been this turned-on in months. They need a babysitter immediately._ He'd even trimmed back his beard more than he usually did so he looked more rugged 'outlaw'. Even the scar on his face was unusually visible thanks to the closer shave, and she ran her hand across his cheek appreciatively at the rare chance he let it show. She had no idea the scruffy beard, the jeans, chaps, or the hat-- _that goddamned tilted hat_ \--would be so hot. "Are you sure we have to go to this thing?" she asks, sliding her hands into his form-fitting vest. "I'd like to spend some time with this cowboy I just found." She kissed his cheek and let her lips linger appreciatively on the skin usually hidden under his dark facial hair. Alex was busy trying to pick out his favorite candy bag and so she let her lips run down his neck and tease along the unbuttoned collar of his button up shirt. 

"Maybe just an hour?" he says, already dizzy with how much he wants her. These jeans he was wearing were way too tight for this kind of kiss. 

"Deal."

He knew she was teasing. She had been looking forward to the Fall festival so Alex could show off his school and his teacher and show them how he helped set up some of the games and decorations. It turns out, a bunch of kindergarteners, first- and second-graders managed to do a pretty good job covering the converted lunchroom in crepe paper and Halloween decorations they'd been working on for weeks. She'd seen the bats and pumpkins he’d taken home to work on and return littering the kitchen table. He’d done a great coloring inside the lines and she picked his out of the wall of bats immediately--especially the one with three googly eyes. He was so excited to show them off so she was too. 

She didn't bring a flashy costume in her travel bag for the festival so she wore her 'bumpkin' jack-o-lantern shirt she had bought for Halloween to highlight their littlest trick-or-treater. Together, the three of them made their way through the carnival games and 'haunted house' and finally the hay bale maze that was only four feet tall. Once they emerged, there was a place to sit down to get their picture taken at the end. It wasn't a surprise to either of them how much joy they found in these little things they got to do together that other families so often took for granted. They'd gladly pay the ten dollars for the picture to remember tonight. The money went to the Early Readers Program anyway, so it was a good cause.

Cara was surprised the other moms refused to mess up their hair and makeup to try bobbing for apples, no matter how much their kids begged and pleaded. You only had to pull out one apple from the barrel to get the prize (a stuffed snake that was three feet long) and Alex had to only ask once before she had her whole head and neck in there without hesitation. Din was too busy laughing to pay much mind to the looks on the other moms’ faces. She still had the apple in her teeth when she shook her soaking wet hair and it got him wet too. It was one of the many things he loved about her; not just her dedication to making his son happy, but her love for life and her approach to every day that was all about jumping in head first instead of watching from the sidelines. They painted a small pumpkin to take home with them and Alex got his face painted to look like the pumpkin face on Cara's shirt. Cara kicked ass at the bean bag toss, but sat out of the sack races that Din and Alex managed to finish second in. 

That night she went to check on Alex once he was asleep and saw the stuffed snake lying next to him in bed--wrapped in a child's death grip. He hadn't let go of it the whole night. He was worn out from all the fun they had earlier and she felt a stab of pride that was becoming more and more familiar to her as she got better at this ‘parenting thing’ with Din’s patient tutelage. She was sure she messed it up a lot of the time but he never pointed out her failings. Din appeared silently beside her. “Looks like he has a new favorite stuffy," he tells her, pointing out the prized plush animal next to his son in bed. "You definitely kicked those other moms’ asses getting that apple. That was hot.” Her hair was still slightly wavy from where it dried funny.

She snickers, trying to not wake up the sleeping boy. They close the door to his room so they can talk. She rubs her round stomach; a gesture she tends to do a lot when she’s nervous or anxious.

“I don’t know about that," she says self-consciously, "but he wanted that snake, so I just did it. I probably would have put my whole body in there.”

“You’re a good mom," he tells her honestly, "whether you realize it or not.” His hand rubs a slow circle over her stomach and he laughs at how strong the kicks and stretches are by now. The last time he saw her a month ago, they’d still been quite delicate and only powerful in the emotional sense-- the way their existence blew him away. He’d never get enough of this—her _here_ with them--where Alex got to revel in her affection and Din got to try to smother her with his own. 

“He’s really active tonight, isn’t he?" he observes. "Was the festival too much walking?”

“It was just all the candy and popcorn from the party," she explains. "It’ll take hours for him to settle down now.” An especially hard jab gets his attention. 

“That was a really hard one," he winces. "You sure it doesn’t hurt?”

“No, it just feels weird; like pressure or something…..I don’t know, but it’s not really painful. It’s comforting feeling him move all the time.”

“What if I run you a bath. Would that help you calm down?” he asks, already turning toward the bathroom.

The smirk on her lips is sinful. “You going to join me?”

That makes him stop dead in his tracks. _He knows that voice_. “That would defeat the purpose,” he teases her. “If you can’t keep your hands off of me, how are you supposed to relax?”

She can't help but bite the edge of her lip. “I don’t know.... though if you do it right, I’d be pretty relaxed by the end of it,” she says, teasing him right back.

He tears his eyes away from where the fabric stretches across her expanding chest to look down where their baby is quite obviously stretching her shirt as well. “Won’t he be upset if we…. _you know_?" he asks. He seems hesitant now that she was so large and the baby was so strong. "He seems so aware when I touch him.”

She laughs as his reticence sinks in. “He’ll be fine," he promises him. "As long as I don’t lie on my back--he doesn’t seem to care for that all too much.”

“I’m sure we can think of something,” he replies, reaching out to touch her. Just the thought of her on top of him made the room feel ten degrees warmer.

“I knew you were clever,” she tells him in the best sultry voice she can muster, " but I have some ideas of my own if you need suggestions."

  
“I’ll start the bath and get out of this getup,” he announces, as he kicks off the boots and unbuttons his vest.

She has a request as well as she starts to strip down herself. “You should probably leave the cowboy hat on............. just sayin.”

He tips his hat at her. “Yes ma’am.”

The next day they both feel more relaxed, but Din’s hands are sweating after they drop Alex off at school. He hadn't been this nervous since before she landed for their first real date last year when he couldn't stop sweating and almost ruined the flowers in his hand. They had talked numerous nights on the phone and in person about getting married at the courthouse at some point. They had decided the important part, but the only detail that was still up in the air was whether it would be before she gave birth or after. He never officially proposed but she said she didn't need all that lovey crap to get married. Of course that didn't deter him one bit. She might not need all that ' _lovey crap_ ' as she romantically called it, but she deserved all the loving and sappy gestures he could muster. He'd never get tired of wooing her, especially when it made her laugh. 

They go out to lunch just the two of them, but to throw her off he goes a different way to get to their destination. She is totally taken by surprise when he proposes in the park down the street and gets down on one knee and everything, much to her amusement. Despite being pregnant and the ground being cold, she gets on her knees too to kiss his stupid, romantic, handsome face. After the endorphins have died down a little from the surprise step in their relationship, they drive the three blocks to get pizza at the first place they ever had a date to celebrate. She'd told him in some other conversation a while ago that she didn't want a solitaire since she couldn't work out or train in it and it appeared he had listened--even if that dork went out and bought her an engagement ring despite her insistence that she didn't _need_ one. She stares at the delicate diamond band under the restaurant lights—it’s beautiful. The rose gold color was perfect--unique and soft, and so lovely against her skin--and the tiny inset diamonds around the band were perfect and understated while still managing to catch the light in the most amazing way. 

They're sitting together in the booth long after they've finished their food just talking and reveling in the celebratory atmosphere in their engagement as if they were fifteen years younger. This place would always be special to both of them--it wasn't fancy or especially high-class, but it was _theirs_. She truly didn't need all this that he had planned today, but it was sweet that he'd done all this just for her. Maybe one day she’d stop being surprised that he loved her like he did but she doubted it.

Din throws around some dates as their dessert arrives. "I thought we could get married in December instead of waiting after the baby is born, but now it’ll seem like a shotgun wedding."

She laughs at that apt description. She'll look like a beached whale in December, but she doesn't care. "We don’t let anyone’s opinion dictate our life, Din. I care what _we_ want, not what other people might say." He was hoping she'd say that. He didn't want to wait either. She knew what their pictures would look like but she didn't care. She'd managed to stay out of the spotlight and tabloids for quite some time and she hoped that would continue. She could deal with some unflattering gossip and photos, but any news outlet would regret the day they ever snapped a picture of Alex--that much she would guarantee. 

"You really don't mind getting married with a round belly in our wedding photos?" Din asks her, as she puts a napkin to her lips once she finishes her slice of cheesecake.

"I just want _you_ to be in our wedding photos," she says. "You and Me and Alex. That's what matters." He loved her so much it hurt sometimes. He still couldn't believe how lucky he'd gotten.

He decides to go for it. "I know you love Halloween, so what about the 31st?"

"The 31st? Of _this month_?” she asks, clearly shocked. “That's in five days."

His grin is one of the sweetest she can remember. "What can I say? I really want to marry you."

She couldn’t argue that, even if there was no way she’d be able to find a dress by then. She could make do in a nice shirt and pants. "Me too. Okay. Five days."

………………

Halloween had always been her favorite holiday for a slew of reasons, but this one was even more special and had a very different feel than she was accustomed to. Instead of the fantasy of dressing up as someone else and the anonymity of being in costume, this was the first time she wanted to be no one other than herself on this day. _Whose life could possibly be better than hers right at this moment?_ The morning of October 31st they're getting ready in his apartment for their appointment at the courthouse, but Din's been on edge checking his phone like crazy. She didn't seriously think he had pre-wedding jitters since this was the lowest stress wedding in the history of mankind, but she had to ask anyway.

"Everything okay? You keep checking your phone."

"Just checking on the statues of another surprise I had for today,” he assures her. “You ready to leave?"

“ _Another_ surprise?” she asked in shock. “Din! How have you not run out already? You know you don’t have to keep trying to impress me.” She shakes her head amusedly at his continued efforts. She was literally marrying him in the next hour--he didn't have to keep trying so hard.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips since Alex was watching them intently by the door. “I will _always_ try to impress you.”

The courthouse gave them a private room to wait in until it was their appointment time. They'd gotten there really early, so they had at least another half hour to sit idly by and keep Alex from stripping out of his suit and making a naked dash to the playground outside. 

"I hope this shirt is good enough for the pictures,” she says a bit self-consciously, as she smoothed out a wrinkle over her ever-expanding belly. “It's the only white shirt I had that would still fit," she says, looking down at the white button-down shirt that tied under her bust. If she watches the fabric over her belly closely enough, she can catch movement underneath it. It was very clearly a maternity shirt paired with her black slacks, but that's where she was at seven months pregnant--nothing without an empire waist or a ton of darts or pleats would fit. The twenty-five to thirty-five pounds she was told to gain over nine months had already reached forty-five and she still had two months to go. She felt every bit a mid-size whale today--puffy face and all--but Din looked at her like she was the most lovely thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

"You look beautiful," he tells her, as if reading her mind. "You're perfect. _Today_ is perfect." There's only so many times he can adjust his tie in the mirror before he has the urge to take it off and re-tie it entirely. His hair was a lost cause but he wanted to make sure he looked half as nice as she did. She was beautiful in white, just as she had been the night he met her under the harsh bar-lighting.

The clerk came in and asked if there was anyone else they were waiting on or if they were ready to make their way into the courtroom in five minutes.

"We're all set here, thanks, " Cara answers. They've basically been ready since they got dressed. 

"Do you regret not inviting anyone to be here today?" he asks her, after the lady closes the door and leaves. "I thought it was perfect just us, but we can do it another day if you want to have someone stand with you."

"I have everything I need right here,” she insists, and puts her arm around Din and Alex who's clinging to his pants leg. “I do kind of wish Cheryl could be here though," she admits. "I don't have any family, but.... she's pretty close. She'll be happy for us I think; after she murders me for all but eloping."

That thought makes him smile. "I _know_ she'll be happy for us," he assures her, as he moves closer to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too," she tells him, before a sharp kick under her ribs grabs her attention. "Hey, easy in there, little guy. We’ll get food after this, I promise."

Din looks at his watch. "We still have five minutes. I'll go get you something to drink and a snack for that little monster." Din knew his surprise should have arrived twenty minutes ago and he was running out of excuses to leave the room to go check the main entrance.

"Sounds good," she tells him, already looking forward to the promise of a snack to settle both her stomach and her little passenger.

He comes back without snacks, but looking as smug as she’s ever seen him. He can’t conceal his smile at all at the woman standing next to him. "Look who I just found walking around outside, two-thousand miles from home. What a weird coincidence."

Cara had to blink several times just to make sure she was seeing correctly. How could he have possibly managed to fly Cheryl out and manage to keep it a surprise this whole time? _Those two look thick as thieves and she admits they got her good._

"How? How did you---- ?" She's not sure who she's asking--Din or her decades-long friend. She's looking back and forth between them like she can't believe it. _Those sneaky shits look so proud of themselves._

"Hi honey. I couldn't miss your big day," Cherly says, and engulfs her in a huge squeeze that was only possible due to Cara's complete and utter shock. "And I brought you this......I hope it fits." She presents the garment bag she had been holding and hangs it up on the coat hook to unzip it. Cheryl ushers a still stunned and pliant Cara behind the dressing screen to give the two women some privacy from Din and Alex who are just milling about in the middle of the room. Cara stands still as her friend helps her get the dress over her head and zipped up in the back. There are tiny pearl beads delicately sewn onto the shoulders that she has to keep her hair clear of. "Why don't the two of you go on ahead," Cheryl suggests, from around the screen. "It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony." As ridiculous as it sounds, it gives the whole thing a much more formal feel--it feels traditional in a good way. Din picks up Alex for the last time as a single man and they make their way to the courtroom to wait for Cara to come in. He squeezes him a little tighter as he realizes that even though Cara will return to L.A. for a while, this is the last time it will truly be just himself and Alex as a family of two. When they leave this courtroom, it will be with Cara as part of their family. Regardless of the status of the adoption papers they started, Cara will be Alex’s mother in only a few moments and it’s all catching up with him how much his life has changed since he met her. He can’t let his thoughts wander too far down the changes Cara has brought to their lives when the door opens and he forgets to breathe.

Cara’s hair is pulled back loosely at the base of her neck, but it’s what she’s wearing that makes her look ethereal; she looks almost otherworldly in that much white. _Maybe he’s dreaming_. She's holding a piece of blue fabric in her hands since she turned down the flowers the courthouse offered. He didn't find out until later it was a family heirloom of Cheryl's that she's offered to his bride since she didn't have any children of her own. He liked this woman more and more--he wasn't sure how to thank her for being here today. She even insisted on paying for her own ticket and everything. Her being here had really made this day even more special for his soon to be wife-and he was indebted to her for her kindness.

The dress Cara is wearing is loose and flowy as she walks down the short aisle and maybe the material is a little lightweight for October in Chicago, but they're indoors and she looks like a goddess from a marble statue come to life. Her belly is both hidden and highlighted by the silhouette at the same time. It's perfect. _How the hell did Cheryl manage to pull this off?_ she wonders. Her friend closes the door behind her and fixes the modest train once they make it inside the room where the officiate and her boys are waiting and she _almost_ wished Din wasn't looking at her like he'd never loved her more--she couldn't focus on anything else but his face. She hardly remembers any of the wedding ceremony except the end where they exchanged vows and finally rings. All she remembers is the feel of his eyes on her--like she was the most beautiful, most wonderful and most loved woman who had ever lived. She couldn't help but remember the way he had looked at her in the airport across a hundred people when she realized she was falling in love with him and the relief that poured over her when she felt his happiness from so far away at just seeing her face. This was like a thousand of that moment all concentrated into the tiny courtroom. With Din in front of her holding her hands, Alex looking up at her playing with his clip-on tie, her friend beside her, and a new life stretching out every so often under her dress, it was almost too much. She had never felt as loved as she had at this very moment. Din seemed equally transfixed by her. She wasn’t even sure he blinked once during the whole ceremony except at the end when he'd wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his suit jacket. She wished she had something to wipe her eyes on too but he kissed her and used his thumbs to dry her tears instead. 

....

Their honeymoon was spent trick or treating as a space family consisting of a round pregnant glow-in-the-dark moon, a pint-sized astronaut, and a NASA control room engineer. The moon and the engineer held hands like the love-drunk idiots they were and stole kisses the whole time while the astronaut bounded off from house to house in search of candy. At least she managed to bring her black-light-activated lunar maternity shirt with her. Her wedding dress sat draped over the back of the couch back at the apartment. They had gone out to lunch with Cheryl to celebrate before returning her to the airport and the three of them returned home to change clothes for the nighttime festivities. Trying to keep the glow-bracelet on Alex was like trying to keep a tube-top on an eel--he managed to wiggle it off at every turn. Normally they wouldn't put up a fight, but it was dark outside though and they were crossing the street so much to get to different houses both she and Din insisted he keep it on. The morning had been all theirs, but they wanted a safe Halloween night to be all _his_. 

Returning home to the apartment together felt so natural by now, but this was their first real time returning for the night as a real little family. It felt so different and so much the same to be married. Alex was so distracted by the candy that they got plenty of private moments to snuggle on the couch while he organized his haul in focused silence. Cara had to return ' _home_ ' in the morning for a meeting tomorrow with investors; though that term was questionable to her now. Home was _here_ , despite her legal residence--home was here with her husband and their son. The feeling of someone stirring woke her up. Alex had woken up from his sugar coma where he'd fallen asleep with his head in her lap. They'd all fallen asleep on the couch apparently without meaning to. Her back was killing her, but she'd take him to bed so Din could sleep a few minutes more.

"Hey kiddo. You ready to go crawl in bed?"

"Yeah. Okay." He looks so sleepy, she can't help but smile. His whole face is sticky from candy, but one night without brushing his teeth won't be the end of the world.

"Did you have a good day today?" she asked, referring to his Halloween haul through the neighborhoods.

"Yeah. I have a question though," he says, as he wakes up slightly more.

She chuckled, as she knew where this was going. "We told you one piece a day after dinner....."

She was ready to go to bat over this again with that candy gremlin, but she shocked her almost silent instead with his next question. "Can I call you 'mom' now?"

She swallowed down a lump that made it difficult to speak. She wished Din was awake to help her, but she realized she didn’t need it. The answer was obvious. She ran her fingers through his soft light-colored hair. "Oh honey, of course you can. I couldn't be more happy to be your mom. You can call me mom, mama, mommy, mama-Cara, or just Cara like you have been..... whatever you like."

"I like 'mom'," he tells her. He must have thought about this before. That thought touched her just as much as this very moment.

"Then I'll be _mom_. I know no one on this earth could ever love you as completely as your dad does, but I love you so much. I'll try really hard to show you every chance I get."

"I love you too......I'm glad you're my mom."

"You're the best son I could ever have, Alex. I'm the lucky one," she says, as she gives him a big squeeze against her stomach. Alex loved plastering himself to her round belly to feel his 'brother' move and kick and he wrapped his arms around her like he always did. Her eyes were so blurry she had to blink repeatedly to clear them to not draw attention to the wetness. She didn’t want Alex to see she was crying in case he misinterpreted her tears of happiness for those of sadness. She picks him up, despite her belly making it harder and harder by the day but when she manages to stand awkwardly she sees Din is awake beside them. He reaches out to squeeze her hand and his cheeks are suspiciously wet too. He must have heard that whole exchange, but it doesn't feel like he intruded on an intimate moment--she was glad he heard it. He mouthed an "I love you," so as not to disturb the kid who was already asleep against her shoulder and followed behind her so they could put their son down together for the first time as husband and wife. Spending a few moments together alone tonight also wouldn't be so bad if they could get him to sleep in his beloved car bed. It _was_ their wedding night after all.

She barely remembered any of her flight back the next day; instead, she kept looking at the shiny metal of her new rings and the hundred pictures Cheryl had snapped for them before catching her flight back the night before. Alex looked so cute in his little tie standing beside them. Din tried so hard to get his blonde hair to lie flat but it was a lost cause. Like son, like Father.....Din's had been stuck up at weird angles too but it was adorable in the pictures. Din had laughed and said even his hair was excited to marry her and no one could even attempt to contain its enthusiasm. She thought leaving as his _wife_ might be easier than it was before as his girlfriend but that all went out the window as she had to kiss them goodbye once again. She's getting huge and traveling will only get harder, but she's looking forward to the second week of December, when she'll fly back to Chicago for the birth and the next several months they'll all get to spend under one roof, learning how to be an even bigger family together. 

...............................

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear from you :)  
> Next chapter coming soon: Four


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't had time to edit this one as much as I would have liked. I'll try to go back and catch typos in a few days. thanks for your patience :)

Second week of November.

Din notices he has four missed calls from Cara and he texts her immediately.

**_You okay? I'm at work_ **

He sees her reply come through almost instantly. She must have been waiting for his text.

**_Don't panic. Everything's fine._ **

As soon as he read the words 'don't panic' he promptly panicked. 

He calls her from behind the bar, without even thinking to step away to a personal break. "What's wrong?"

She laughs at the tone of his voice. "Nothing's wrong, just had a stressful and unexpected afternoon."

"Then why are you telling me not to panic?" he asks, clearly still flustered. 

"I had to go into the hospital for some monitoring when I had contractions so strong I couldn't walk them off," she tells him. "If they can't stop labor then the baby will probably be born in the next 24 hours." She continues talking quickly before he jumps to conclusions and freaks out. "They're confident they’ve stopped it," she tells him. "They gave me steroid shots for his little lungs just in case. The contractions are still pretty regular, but since the medicine they've calmed down a lot.”

His brain catches up with all the information he'd been fed. She could have the baby today if they couldn't stop her contractions. "You're still having contractions? You're in labor, Cara." 

"I _was_....kind of,” she clarifies, trying to put emphasis on the past tense of the verb. “They stopped it for now, but they want me to stay here another 24 hours and stay off my feet as much as possible until the second week of December."

His brain is racing to make this work. Someone here can cover for him. His boss will either understand or he can go fuck himself. His mind is still racing when he tries to tell her his plan. "I'm---Rosie can watch Alex....no--I'll bring him with me," he rambles, as everything rushes out as one big run-on thought. "I can leave right now and be there by tomorrow morning."

"Don't be ridiculous," she tries to reassure him. "It's just a false alarm."

"You're having contractions!” he says loud enough that a few customers look at him funny. He lowers his voice to whisper loudly into the phone. “That's not a false alarm, Cara. That's _labor_!"

"It's fine, the monitors say so too" she assures him. "I didn't want to worry you, but I wanted you to be aware. I didn't mean to make you freak out."

"I wish I could be there _now_. I should be there," he insists.

"It's okay," she tells him again.

"What can I do? How can I help from this far away?" he asks, clearly feeling quite useless and not knowing what to do.

"Just hearing your voice helps," she explains. "You not panicking helps and you telling me everything's going to be okay helps too."

"Everything's going to be okay," he says back to her as convincingly as he can manage. He was worried but didn't want her to pick up on it and worry about him too. 

"The medicine they gave me makes me so sleepy," she says, and he can hear how tired her voice sounds. She must have been on edge for hours and finally relaxed once she got a hold of him.

"I can't believe you're there by yourself. I feel like an asshole."

She doesn't want him to feel bad. "Don't feel guilty and don't beat yourself up. If it was a real emergency, I'd ask you to come out I promise, but it's managed for now."

"If you start having contractions again, promise me you'll call me. I don't want to miss this."

"I promise," she tells him. "But I'm hooked up to a ton of machines. I'm in good hands."

"My hands are better," he argues, though he's so glad she got herself to a hospital at the first sign something was amiss. She was much more level-headed than him at times and this was one of them.

"In so many ways," she says, trying to sound teasing but she wishes his hands were here now. She'd feel so much better with him close by, but she wouldn't dare say that when he's this upset about not being there with her. He doesn't need any more guilt, but she wished he was here. She would never admit how scared she'd been hours ago when she couldn't get in touch with him and they were going over the worst case scenario of her delivering on her own.

He just thinks of something else. "What if the doctor doesn't give you the go ahead to get on a plane next month?" he asks. "It's only two weeks from now."

"Then I'll _drive_. I do own a car, you know."

"You're stubborn," he tells her, making it somehow seem like a compliment.

"You sound surprised," she snarks back.

"I want to be there with you when all this goes down," he says.

"You will be," she assures him. "Tonight's not the big night. Try not to worry. I love you."

"I love you too."

He returns to work and goes through the motions but his smiles and small talk are flimsy at best. He finds himself panicking and watching the clock on the nearest television, wringing his hands in the sturdy new apron he's wearing. The black, thick heavy fabric had been a gift from Cara. It's lined in a richer softer satin and his initials were stitched into the dark fabric, but even the professional apron couldn't keep him focused. The second glass he fumbled and almost dropped got his co-workers attention.

"Hey Din, everything okay?" Crystal asks, hesitantly. Din's usually not off his game for anything, so it caught her attention.

"Yeah," he answered automatically, before changing his answer. "Actually, _no_. My wife just called to tell me she went into labor a month early."

She sees the ring on his finger that she didn't remember being there the last time she worked with him. "I didn't know you were married," she says, edging cautiously into the conversation. For all she knew he might have been married for ages and she just never noticed. His hands were always busy and there wasn't a lot of time for chit chat when they worked nights. "Have I ever met her?" she asks and in response He pulls out his phone to scroll through some pictures to find one of just her without Alex in it too--they're few and far between. They're pretty inseparable now.

While he searches, he explains why he’s upset. "She's in California for the next month to finish up some things for work."

"She went into labor in _California_?" she asks, mildly horrified while trying to play it down. " I can see why you're upset."

He finds a good one of them together. That will have to suffice. "Here, this is her." He hands the phone to his coworker.

She's quiet. She looks at the picture and back at Din.

He can see the wheels turning in her head. "Holy shit. Is tha--? Is that the woman from ---?"

"Yeah, that's Cara," he tells her, and can't manage to keep the smile off his face. It's kind of amusing actually, if he thinks about it. Crystal was the reason he got to talk to her that first night at all. He'd never been so glad to cover for someone else. Dylan might have gotten to go to the concert, but Din definitely came out on top when they traded shifts. That night had changed the whole trajectory of his life.

"You really hit it off with her then...." she says knowingly. She looks so smug right now. He was surprised she remembered it so well. Who was he kidding? Everyone remembered Cara. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

He finds the whole thing amusing. "I'm still not quite sure how I got so lucky, but yeah." 

"I was right you know," she said, full of confidence now. "I knew she looked into you."

He laughed as he remembered that night like it was yesterday. "I might believe you now, but I definitely didn't back then"

Crystal kept him talking through the rest of the shift to distract him. He knew what she was doing was more for his benefit than purely her nosiness, but he appreciated it too much to call her out on it. Talking to someone else about Cara and how amazing she was felt wonderful. It also kept his mind off worrying until his shift was over, which he knew was the point. He returned home that night slightly on edge but tucked Alex into bed without letting on that anything was amiss. It was only when he told his son he couldn't talk to Cara like he had everyday for months, did Din notice the suspicious look on his face. Din told him his mom was sleepy because of the baby and had already fallen asleep, which he seemed to buy for now. She had texted him updates all night that he checked frantically, and he was more than relieved when he read her message stating they were confident the contractions had finally stopped. He felt his lungs release a breath he felt like he'd been holding onto for hours and the stress melted away when he pressed a kiss onto the top of Alex's head beside him. He'd let his son sleep in bed with him not just for the boy's comfort but also his own. He also kept him close by incase they suddenly needed to throw on clothes and get to the airport if Cara called him.

The last weeks of November after she was discharged from the hospital were a madhouse that found Din trying to get everything ready before the holidays and before Cara moved in with them for the next few months. 

The pair of them also doubled down on looking at real estate despite their distance. They toured houses virtually with the help of the realtor holding the phone camera up to follow Cara as she waddles through each one and discusses the pros and cons with him. She was surprised that her townhome had gone up in value so much when she had it appraised, but it _was_ in a great location and when she sold it, she could easily buy a 3 bedroom home further out in the suburbs where they were looking. It had been her first house, but she wouldn't miss that place at all compared to a home they could buy and fill together.

Another huge milestone was also creeping up on them. They'd done the math and the numbers in the spreadsheet looked like she would have enough to secure the lease for the building she had her eye on for her stand-alone business. She would no longer only rent space in the current gym she had a stake in--she would finally own her own. Din had been positively giddy when he ran the numbers a second time and got to tell her it was finally possible. She had already applied for a permit for the space she had fallen in love with and once they accepted her bid the ball would finally start rolling. After the baby was born, they'd move some assets around and Cara would get to finally sign the deed and make the down payment. She had floorplans and blueprints in hand already, but all final decisions would wait until after their son (or daughter) was safely in their arms and she could give her new business the attention it deserved. Cara couldn't believe it. It could all come together in the next six months and Din would be right there proudly by her side.

...............................................

"Do you really have to stay there until the 10th? **_Really_**? You can't work remotely the first two weeks of December?" he almost whines over the phone.

"The next time I get on a plane in LA it will be to stay for at least eight weeks, so I have to finish this last minute stuff here," she explains rationally, though he's not feeling particularly rational right now. He cringed when she said 'eight weeks' too. He couldn't even think about her having to leave to take their small baby back across the country by herself. .....he already knew he'd try talking her into staying until May so they could all fly back together when he and Alex officially moved cross-country to their new house. 

She offers a compromise. "What if I come visit December 1st for a quick visit and then fly back to L.A. for the last 10 days or so to get everything done for work before flying back the second week for the big event?"

"You’re pregnant, Cara," he reminds her, which sounds ridiculous. "You shouldn’t be flying back and forth."

"I’m getting on a _plane_ , not flapping my arms like a bird."

He's getting exasperated. "I'd feel a lot better if you were here--close by, in case you need help."

"I have to get everything squared away for work since I'll be out so long," she says. 

Din's starting to sound desperate, but he doesn't care. "Can't you do it remotely?" He knows how it sounds to someone who lives for her job like his wife does....."Look, I know how important your work is to you, I do....I'd never ask you to sacrifice your integrity, I'm just worried."

She sighs heavily and he can hear how much she has still on her shoulders. "I just have so much left to do and fewer and fewer days to wrap it up."

He wants to be able to make this better for her but he's not sure how. He doesn't have a controlling bone in his body when it comes to her, but he's worried his concern might come across like that; especially when he's worried about her and on edge. He does his best to explain.

"From the first moment I met you and you told me about your job I knew you were special, Cara. You loved what you did and your passion for it was amazing," he tells her, letting his genuine amazement and respect for her accomplishments shine clearly through. "I'd never ask you to give up any of it or even pull back from it, I just don't want you to drive yourself into the ground trying so hard. You’re growing a whole human from scratch and you have to cut yourself some slack--be kind to yourself. Don't feel disappointed when you can only give 98 percent where you gave 100 percent before. It's _allowed_. You're not letting anyone down."

She lets out a tired sigh. She gets what he's saying and where he's coming from -- _she does_. She knows his heart's in the right place and she'd have said the exact same thing if their positions were reversed, but it's still hard to let go. "I just feel like such a sell-out asking people to cover anything. I should be able to do it all myself," she says.

"And you will,' he encourages her, "either remotely _now_ , or in person after the baby is born. I know you can do everything you set your mind to." 

"I know you do," she tells him, sincerely. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asks, finally cracking a smile, "nagging you to death?"

'For believing in me," she says. "For saying that I can do it even when it seems impossible with the swollen feet, the tiredness, and everything else. For reminding me I'm only human."

"You're not _only_ human, you're a damn _amazing_ human," he insists. "You're _amazing_ Cara. You're amazing with Alex, amazing with this baby, amazing with your work, and most amazing with how you put up with me.

She sniffles. "Shut up. I couldn't do any of this without you."

"I couldn't be happier watching you succeed," he tells her honestly, "I just don't like watching you struggle though. I wish I could help more. If I lived closer, I could at least--" 

"Don't," she says, before he gets knee deep in guilt that he didn't uproot Alex from school and move to L.A. already. It was important for her that his ( _their_ ) son's life was disrupted as little as possible until the school year was over. "You do more than you know," she tells him over the phone. She wished he was here to wrap his arms around her.

"So, since I'm so amazing, you'll come up two weeks early?" he asks, hopefully, giving it a last try.

She lets out a half snort. "I did promise him I’d come to his Christmas play and I can’t go back on it. And there _is_ a lot we still need to go to get everything ready for the baby." They got a lot done the seven days she stayed in Chicago in October, but there were so many last-minute things she felt she was forgetting. The nursery was really the office that connected to their bedroom since they didn't want to disrupt Alex by taking any of his space. They'd have the baby beside them in the bassinet anyway, so they didn't need a whole extra room. They'd set up an extra side table next to the gliding chair, washed all the burp cloths, and put all the extra sleepers and clothes away near the changing table. Diapers and wipes sat patiently on the changing table just waiting for the day they'd bring home someone who needed them.

"You'll stay until he’s born then?" he confirms, wanting to touch her stomach. "You shouldn't fly back and forth another time. It's tempting fate."

"Okay," she agrees, so quietly and resolute he almost misses it.

He rushes out his last ditch effort before he admits defeat. "I can’t bear the thought of you going into labor early and being there by yourself until I can make it there. Please don't wait until the second week of December to fly. I know work is important, but I'm more worried about y--." It dawned on him halfway through his spiel she had said something. "Wait, did you just say, ' _okay_ '?"

"Yeah," she says, and watches him visibly relax on her screen. "I'll come December 1st and stay until after the delivery. I guess I can work a little remotely if something comes up."

She arrives late the night of the first at O'Hare and stops by the hotel bar to wait for him to get off work so they can go home together. Din's busy cleaning up for the night when she spots him before sitting down. 

There’re still several patrons at the bar when he hears a voice from the end of the high top. "Hey sexy."

He turns and is greeted with her smiling face. He knew she was due to land any minute, but she still managed to surprise him. She's sitting in exactly the same seat as she had been that night he'd seen her for the first time. He doesn't even know if she realizes it but he certainly wouldn't forget a detail like that.

"Hey yourself."

"What time you get off?" she asks as sultry as she can at nine months pregnant. "Maybe we can go back to your place later......"

"Sorry, you're gorgeous and all," he tells her, "but I'm a happily married man."

"Too bad," she pouts. "I really can't wait to get out of these pants. Maybe you could help."

He grins at her, ruining the game but he just can't help it. He shakes his head fondly as he unties his apron. "You're the worst."

She seems to find that the best compliment and it earns him a smirk. "I might have heard that before from my husband."

He comes around the bar to give her a hug to put all their previous hugs to shame. "I love you."

"I love you too," she tells him, and feels her whole body relax in his embrace. She's finally here for the kind of long haul. She'll spend weeks upon glorious weeks with her husband and their son waiting for the arrival of their newest member of the family. After so much time apart this finally feels right. She's where she should be and their family feels complete, even though the smallest addition still isn't yet in their arms. Just getting to be Din's wife and Alex's mom in person and not through a series of visits and phone calls is enough to make her tear up a little. She knows she's being a giant sap, but she's just so happy to see him. She wraps her arms around him again, hoping she's not going to get him censured by his boss, but he just feels too good to let go of. 

"I have another hour here," he informs her, "but I'll see what I can do about those pants later."

"I think I'm getting bigger by the hour," she warns him. "You definitely won't be sweeping me off my feet."

"I can rub them though."

She moans at just the thought. "That sounds amazing."

"How was your trip," he asks, thankful it's her last one for quite some time. He'd been worried the whole time she'd been in the air.

"Fine," she assures him. "I managed to _not_ go into labor on the plane, so that was my great accomplishment for the day."

"Why don't you sit down at one of the lower tables and prop your feet up," he suggests. "The barstools certainly aren't the most stable or comfortable."

"Yeah, I look like a fat flamingo perched up here."

"You're beautiful," he tells her, "and I get you all to myself for the next two months at least."

"Well, you might have to share a little," she reminds him with a smirk, "and I don't just mean with a certain cute blonde kid who likes to sleep with us. 

He looks comically down at her belly like he'd never noticed it before. "Oh yeah, you're pregnant. I hadn't noticed." It was obviously false since her belly was the largest thing in the entire hotel lobby and he was touching it at this very moment--he never could manage to keep his hands off it, especially when they first saw each other after weeks apart. "Come on." He gets her situated at a table and brings her a glass of water and some chips. 

"How's our little frequent flyer?" he asks, as he greets her belly like a whole separate person. His hands are so soothing as they sweep over the tight skin of her stomach and she's glad the little bean decides to be so active right now--he's such a show off for Din. The only one he does more acrobatics for is Alex.

"Racking up the sky miles," she tells him with a straight face. "He's happy to see you too."

He looked at her the same way he did the first time she told him she loved him. "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Stop fussing over me," she tells him, trying hard to sound irritated. "Go deal with those drunk idio-- I mean, _esteemed_ customers."

He smiles at her the biggest smile she's seen in a long time. "Yes ma'am."

Alex, in typical six-year old style, was more entranced with the promise of Christmas than the understanding that these were their last days before the baby arrived. It took Din by surprise when he heard Alex tell his teacher his mom was coming to live with them. It wasn't their unusual living situation that surprised him, it was the casual confidence in which he heard Alex say ‘my mom'. He was obsessed with the holiday toy catalogue and the 'idea' of the baby, but one day he'd recognize that the best Christmas present he ever got was this wonderful woman who became his mother. Din doubted he'd ever be able to give Alex a truly 'normal' life when he'd adopted him years ago, but he tried his best-- a worry that kept him up at night all too often. _Was he doing a good job? Would he be enough? What would the other kids think as he got older and realized most people have two parents? How could he give him the best life that he deserved?_ Since he met Cara, his nighttime thoughts were very different. They were happy instead of worried and he felt not just a happier _man_ , but also a better _dad_. Due to the strangest turn of events, now his son had a dad and a mom and very soon a sibling. The house in L.A. they had put an offer on was in its due diligence period and by the summer they'd likely have a home with a yard too--only a ten minute drive from her new gym.

Cara was glad she got to come up early so they got to spend the entire month of holiday events together. Not only did they finish the nursery space enough that her nesting anxiety calmed down a bit, but she got to be a part of putting the Christmas tree up with the boys. It was only a year ago she'd bittersweetly watched their Christmas traditions from the screen of her phone and wished she could have felt that warmth herself--it was even better than it had seemed over the phone. Now she was _here_ and it made her appreciate the holiday spirit in a way she hadn't since she was a child herself. The snow outside did nothing to put a damper on the warm and loving feeling inside their tiny apartment. She knows she'll definitely miss the snow when they all move West, but she'd forever associate it with Din and falling in love with him.

Making this time special for Alex and seeing the joy of Christmas through his excited eyes, was better than any material present she could ever receive. She and Din wrapped presents after Alex went to bed and they decorated the mantle of the gas fireplace with stockings and nick knacks. Din and their son had their collection of family decorations and Cara started to add to it this year with some they all picked out together. She got to bake Christmas cookies with Alex and decided it would be a new tradition they'd do every year from here on out. Everything was ready for the holidays and the other big event; now they just had to wait......

.

...

....

.......

..........

Her due date came and went the day before the Christmas recital at Alex's school, and Din watched her like a hawk for every twinge or sign that the baby could be on its way, but it wasn't until the 23rd when she went into labor. She probably only made it that long with Din to help keep her off her feet. Even Alex joined in on ' _operation keep Cara in bed_ ’. 

They put off going to the hospital for several hours in case it's another round of false labor, but it quickly becomes apparent this is very different. Alex wanted to come with them but Cara worried about traumatizing the sweet boy so he stayed with the neighbor. They check into the hospital together and when they get her all changed and hooked up the monitors the nurses leave her to labor in peace for the next few hours before checking her progress. It's just Cara, Din, and a quiet room. They came in just the two of them and will leave this room with another member of their family. It's unreal. She looked at their hospital bag in the corner. She hoped they had everything, but it was too late now. They'd planned as well as they could. _How had they gotten here from a missed flight and a chance encounter at a bar?_

Din put on some background TV so the room wasn't so eerily quiet--he thought such a life-changing event would be louder somehow. Cara didn't look scared so much as intensely focused and viewed this as an event she simply had to overcome to get to the prize at the end. She almost looked like she did back in her fighting days from the videos she showed him. She was in the zone and Din busied himself by her side and taking care of anything she asked for. When she grew too uncomfortable to talk with him and keep him distracted with idle chatter and observations about the show on the television, Din watched the numbers on the instruments like he could somehow help make this go more smoothly by understanding them or giving her a head's up when a contraction was coming. She laughed and pulled his face away from the screen to kiss him. "Trust me, I can tell before the machine." The nurse told Din where he could find the "dad snacks" and ice chips for his wife. She turned down a warm bath in the whirlpool tub, claiming she wanted to stay on her feet. Her back felt like it was breaking and lying down just made it worse. She leaned on him more heavily to help stretch her back as another wave of backbreaking tightness took hold of her. _She thought the pain was supposed to be in her stomach, so what fresh hell was this ripping her back apart?_

"I hope I can figure this out," she says, when she can talk between several especially powerful contractions that made her lay down against her will. She couldn't stay on her feet any longer without assistance. "You'll be much better at this baby thing," she tells him matter-of-factly. "You've done this before. I have no clue." It was finally real. This was really happening. The time for planning was over--it was the time for doing.

He kisses the side of her head where she's pressed against him. "Alex was 26 days old when I took custody of him. This is new to me too," he assures her, "but we’ll figure it out _together_. Babies only really need to be fed, dry, and held. We can do this." He fed her an ice chip when she opened her mouth but was getting too tired to ask for them.

He made it sound so easy and like always, his quiet confidence made her feel better. She was sure it was mostly for her benefit, but he sounded so sure they could do it that it gave her confidence she wasn't sure she had before. She squeezed his hand as she tried to get comfortable. It was going to be a long night. "Yeah, we can do this."

Oliver Din Djarin was born the morning of Dec 24th at 8 pounds 8 ounces and his beautiful dark hair that curled at the ends was the envy of all the nurses who saw him. Watching him being born was the most beautiful moment Din had ever witnessed. His little wrinkled palm and five perfect fingers wrapped around his index finger and he was a total goner. He cried like a baby himself when he was the first one to hold him after they'd gotten the slimy wailing boy off of Cara's chest, and he'd admit that to absolutely anyone. He had only felt a similar overwhelming feeling once before-- it was the same as the first time baby Alex settled right down when he held him for the first time. He wouldn't stop crying in the social workers arms, but as soon as he held him, he quieted right down. It was like he just _knew_ he was his dad, no matter how impossible that was and the feeling burning in his chest was exactly the same now. His eyes got wet again and he tried to blink away the tears, but it was pointless--new ones just kept taking their place. He was the most doting and attentive father. He never left Cara's side except when she asked him to help her grab something or wait outside the door when he helped her to the bathroom. He handed him over to Cara when he was hungry, but other than that he didn't let him out of his arms once. He knew every wrinkle and fuzzy spot on his tiny head and the exact dark gray color of his eyes when he opened them. He even knew the shapes of each tiny fingernail that he studies like he was holding the most amazing human that had ever been born.

At Cara's insistence she was awake enough to hold the baby if he stepped out, he left later in the afternoon to pick up Alex and bring him back with him. He was secretly glad the little boy wasn't born _on_ Christmas. He wouldn't have to share his birthday with such a big holiday or split presents. Alex would still likely be entranced with the presents, but Din didn't think he could take his eyes off their tiniest gift for at least several days. Being born on Christmas eve was slightly better anyway. It always had such a magical air to it with the magic of Christmas and the snow and the sense of expectation and hope. It was perfect. _He_ was perfect.

Cara's exhausted, but perks up when she sees her older son walk in with Din. She thought she had heard his little voice telling the nurses he passed that he just got a baby brother, but everything was fuzzy. She hadn’t liked spending the night away from Alex, even though she was doing very important and backbreaking work. She missed him and everything felt complete with the four of them back together again.

"Looks like you were right," she tells him, as he makes a beeline right to her. "You have a brother. How did you know?"

"I just knew he was a boy," he says, but he's not even looking directly at her. His focus is on what she's holding against her chest. She's not sure she's ever seen him so still or his eyes so wide.

She looks down to the object of Alex's wonder. "Oliver," she says sweetly to the sleeping newborn, "you want to meet your brother? This is Alex." Alex climbed up on the bed so gently-- with the most grace and finesse and care they'd ever seen-- to peer over Cara's arm where she pulled the blanket away from the tiny fat face. His head was still misshapen from his entrance into the world but the tiny hat covered all that.

Din was a mess and he tried to remember to take pictures. This was a moment they couldn't recreate. Alex kept reaching out to almost touch his brother before pulling his hand back at how delicate and soft he looked. Cara shifted uncomfortably where she'd been lying perfectly still for an hour to not disturb Oliver, so Din came forward and reached out to hold the baby so she could sit up slightly and stretch her shoulders. Every time he picked up the newborn he was surprised at how light he was compared to the fifty pounds of kid he was used to picking up and he knew he'd have to re-learn how light and delicate babies were all over again. 

He holds Oliver carefully but focuses his attention on the older brother. "Go sit down on the couch buddy," his dad tells him. "You want to hold him?"

"Really?" he said in disbelief. "I can hold him by myself?"

"Yeah, here," he says, as he props some pillows on Alex's lap and arranges his arms just so to support him properly. Once they're arranged and in no danger of getting hurt, Din steps back just far enough to snap a picture before rushing back to adjust Alex's arms again. Alex doesn't even seem to notice his dad is there at all or that Cara's falling asleep. He's only focused on the squished little face of his brother he'll get to play with as much as he wants soon. Din looked at the pair with so much love he felt like his heart might burst. They looked so very different but anyone could see the love between them--they were brothers in every way that mattered. Any other conversations about the genetics of hair color could happen in the years to come. They were already inseparable. Their two boys....

"Hi Ollie," the proud older brother says to the little sleeping face. Whatever hormones she felt flowing through her at the site of the two brothers together were better than any pain medicine they had administered so far. She couldn't feel any pain or discomfort; only the feeling of her heart growing twice it's normal size as they got to know each other in relative privacy. _Why the hell couldn't she stop crying?_ Alex talked to him for a while until he let out a sudden surprised sound that made both Cara and Din jump in alarm. It was a false alarm--just Alex's excitement. "Daddy, he's awake and he opened his eyes. They look just like yours...."

.....................

They all return home together the next day after a very cautious and anxiety-inducing car-ride from the hospital with two car seats in the back instead of one. At home, Cara sits with Oliver on the couch beside a nervous and attentive Din doing his best impression of a hummingbird as they watch Alex open his presents in his new Christmas jammies. He's much better at ripping the paper off than he was last year when she watched it over video. She took turns with Din on the ground handing out presents. Alex offered some his presents to Oliver, but he slept right through it.

"I thought he'd want to help," he tells her, when the baby doesn't seem to try to reach out at all. He slept a lot and when he wasn't asleep, he was protesting being hungry or wet.

"That's sweet honey," she praises the boy's sweet gesture, "but he's too little to open anything right now." He wouldn't extend his chubby arms to reach for anything for months, but Alex didn't know what. 

"That's so sweet," Din tells him too. "Next year I'm sure he will, but he's so little. He's just happy watching you. Tiny babies sleep most of the time." For as much as he slept the day away, the baby always opened his eyes when Alex got close.

"Can I hold him when I'm done with the presents?" he asks. He never sat still in his life, but he loved sitting quietly holding his brother as he slept so he could study him. He even kissed his head when he started to fuss and wake up. 

"Of course you can hold him," Din told him, "as much as you want, as long as one of us sits close by."

He'd proceeded to tear through the rest of his big presents and the entire living room floor was covered in wrapping paper despite the trash bag Din had on-hand to collect it. Alex had gotten the larger, more realistic plastic dinosaurs he'd asked for this morning, and he ran off to his room with an, "I'll be right back Oliver!" as an idea popped into his head. He came back with his favorite soft orange dinosaur stuffy he'd loved since he was a baby and put it on top of his brother who was looking oddly alert in Cara's arms. "Here Ollie, you can have this one. It was my favorite since I was little but it's yours now," he states with great seriousness as if he'd bestowed a great honor upon him, and gives him a kiss before bounding off to search under the tree for more things with his name on it.

Come here," she says and beckons Alex closer so she can out her free arm around him. Cara met Din's eyes over the boy's head. "That was so nice of you. Christmas is all about giving. We'll put it by his crib so he has it close by when he sleeps." They take a picture with his first toy. They had bought other ones to shower him with of course, but this one would always hold a special place and probably be his favorite.

Cara sits it on top of his blanket and though his eyes couldn't focus on it yet, he looked like he saw it anyway. Those dark eyes were always looking for something, and that something was usually related to Alex.

His arms snuck out of his swaddle and he moved them about in uncoordinated protest. "He must be getting hungry," she announces, but as soon as her hand moves to get a better grip under his butt, she changes her mind. "Never mind. His bottom is warm."

"I'm going to go change him," Din announces as he scoops him up so Cara could rest. He picks up the orange dinosaur that fell on the couch and perches it back on top of the swaddle, much to Alex's approval. "I'll bring his dinosaur too. I'm sure they'll be inseparable from here on out."

............

Alex helps with everything after the baby is born. He’s so proud to be a big brother. She thought he’d be jealous or attention seeking like she's been told most kids are, but he’s simply amazing. He hands her diapers and wipes and the baby is so in love with him that Din and Cara were definitely an afterthought to his big brother. Wide unfocused eyes follow him all over the room even before the doctor said he could really track faces or recognize anyone other than her. His first crooked smile was for Din and his fuzzy beard face-kisses, but his first beautiful laugh was for his brother being silly. Cara was the favorite at mealtime and naptime but everything else was for Din and Alex, and she couldn't find a single ounce of jealousy. There were four of them now--the perfect little family. She's still not sure how she managed it, but she managed to work remotely through May, so they didn't have to be separated after all. Her, Din, and the two boys in that little apartment figuring out how to be a family of four was one of the happiest times she could remember, but she looked forward to their moving date when they could take ownership of their recently purchased single family home in L.A..

.............

Din was watching Ollie, so Cara could put on real clothes and leave the house for a change. Alex had made sure his brother had his favorite trusty dinosaur before he turned and grabbed his backpack. Ollie's tiny, clumsy smile when he grabbed at it in Din's arms made her heart swell up. She was taking her older son to school today and running the errands around town. It was the first time she left the apartment without Ollie strapped to her and she was a wreck. She knew he'd be fine with his dad who absolutely lived for him and spoiled him rotten, but it was still hard to go against her instinct not to leave. Oliver seemed more than happy in Din's arms and thankfully he didn't cry at all or she might have caved and started crying herself. The only reason she put on a brave face was because she was driving Alex today. Otherwise, she would have just turned around and hightailed it back home to snuggle the baby she felt like she was abandoning for a few hours.

As soon as Alex stepped out of the car she reminded him, "Don't forget to tell your teacher, I'm getting you early for your teeth cleaning."

"I will," he waved and smiled at her.

  
"I love you," she calls out to him. "Have a good day!"

"I love you too! Bye!"

She heard him talking with the teacher as she walked him inside. "My mom's picking me up early to go to the dentist. I'm supposed to remind you." The first time Alex had referred to her as his mom to his teacher had sounded so natural it made her cry in the car after she dropped him off. It was too perfect to be real. Everything had worked out so well she had a hard time believing how easy it had been for them to become a family. 

..........................................

They moved to Los Angeles when Ollie was five months old and Alex graduated from kindergarten. He was sad for a few days about leaving some of his friends behind but the big yard, the beach, and them all living together turned it around pretty quick. It turns out Alex didn’t find the transition challenging at all. He couldn’t wait for them to all live together and he loved California. Their new place gave them so much extra room and the active boy loved the fenced in backyard and sunny weather. Her succulent garden had been dug up by hand and re-potted on the back porch of their new place too. The first few she had received in the mail had already sent off shoots and had begun to multiply. The new house had much better sunlight in the yard and they all enjoyed spending the evening out there and even ate dinner at the patio table when it was warm.   


Alex had his own room now too, but he liked bringing all his blankets and pillows into Ollie's nursery to be close to him. He was always the first one at his side when he let out a cry and always seemed to know how to make him happy.

Din had gotten to use his business degree for the first time in years by helping her with the books as she prepared to finally open her first solo business. Her life's work was _theirs_ now and he was so proud of her. Together they made a great team getting everything in order in the front of the house and back of the functions. _That was probably a restaurant term_ , he thinks. Customer-side- and operations-side were probably better descriptions. 

It only took a few weeks before he ended up finding a day job he loved down the street from her gym at a high end spa where he was in charge of concierge and food and beverage. He also worked part-time at a small hole-in-the-wall bar when he wanted a change of pace or needed to work nights to accommodate her schedule or if he had to stay home with a sick kid or two for a day. Everything was close to Alex's school and he'd surprise her at work to go grab lunch as often as he could. This had been what was missing when he lived in Chicago. Obviously the big things were nice, but it was the _little_ things everyone else took for granted that they never did. They were everything to him now: 

_Making a grocery list together, picking out new light bulbs, or choosing plants for the porch._

_Making her a lunch of leftovers or her surprising him with running shoes so they could take a walk during lunch when he was on break._

_Taking turns picking up Alex from his new school and going to parent's night meeting together and dealing with his skinned knees as a team._

_The way she flopped down on the bed whenever he tried to put clean sheets on and how it never failed to make her laugh when he called dibs on the larger towel when they showered after dinner._

They had developed such a routine now and all the moving parts fit together perfectly. They had to work a little harder to make time for just _them_ , but they couldn't regret even a moment of time spent as a family. To think.....how far they'd come since meeting one unexpected night.

……………………..

Many thanks to [Lady_Vibeke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Vibeke/pseuds/Lady_Vibeke) who made this lovely picture to accompany this story. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left


	5. Just Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big day tomorrow  
> wanted to get this finished before the emotional rollercoaster :)
> 
> Sad this journey is at an end but happy they get a happy ending ♥

Chapter 5 Just Beginning

..................................

Almost a year later

She watched Ollie in his highchair as Din tried to show him how amazing applesauce could be. He's wearing more of it than ended up in his mouth though--a statement that applied both to Oliver and Din. The one year old seemed less than impressed, but he 'mmmed' and babbled happily when a small bit of the mashed fruit accidentally ended up in his mouth. Din took it all in stride and laughed as he smeared it around his face and chubby tummy. She came to place a kiss on Ollie's head but everything was so sticky; his hair was even slicked down with applesauce. Din wasn't looking too much more pristine.   
"I think you'll _both_ need a bath after this," she teases him.

"I think so too," he says seriously, before sliding his fingertips up the back of her shirt. "Want to join?"

She looks to Alex, who's mesmerized by some Pokémon show on TV. "Behave," she chides him and swats at his grabby hand. The smirk on her face and her hand curling into his waistband sent a very different message. 

"I will," he assures her, "right after _you_."

Ollie must have finally realized she was there because he reached up his arms to tug at her shirt where he knew the good stuff was. Applesauce was a poor substitute it seemed. He could babble for things he wanted but his opening and closing fist for 'milk' was clearly understood. 

"Even the kid thinks you should take your shirt off," her husband tells her, as he waggled his eyebrows for maximum effect.

"I'm watching you ...." she warns him teasingly, shaking her head fondly at his flattering antics, while pulling the panel aside on her shirt to expose part of her chest that two sets of eyes zero in on for very different reasons.

"And _you, " _she says, as she gets a hold of the sticky baby and holds him near her chest where he knows what to do, "I'm supposed to be weaning _you_. Doesn't applesauce sound good instead?"

His little eyes had already closed in contentment and she swayed foot to foot as she rocked him to sleep. He barely made it thirty seconds before the movement combined with the comfort of nursing in her arms knocked him right out. He was getting too big to be considered a baby anymore, she thought sadly. It took her breath away how he looked more and more like Din everyday, especially his goofy baby smile. She felt a little weepy that every week he looked less and less like the little baby they brought home back in Chicago.

Din must have noticed the subtle change in her eyes. She had been joking and teasing him not ten seconds ago, but now she was watching Oliver with something approaching melancholy and it gets his attention.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks, and runs a hand down her arm gently. She'll never get over his soft touches or the way he looks at her.

"Yeah, he's just growing up so fast," she says, as he rubs his fuzzy baby head that had much thicker dark hair than it used to. She lets her hand rest against his hip as she holds the toddler against her chest. His thighs were less chunky too, ever since he started walking--following them everywhere and never letting his big brother get more than five feet away at any given time. She looks up to see Alex doing a combination of Pokémon battle moves in front of the TV. He looks so tall too. She lets out a sigh. "They _both_ are I guess...."

He sees where she's coming from. He gets those thoughts too sometimes. "He's healthy and happy and still has most of his rolls and baby fat," he tells her to make her smile. "We have some happy kids."

She knows they do. They're both so unbelievably lucky. Sometimes she wakes up in a sweaty panic thinking all this was just a dream and she'd find herself alone in her old place, never having met Din or giving her whole heart to these kids while watching them grow. She shakes herself out of her mood. This is _real_ \--she knows it is. The unlikely series of events that brought them together was incredible and serendipitous, but despite how easily they came together, they also fought hard for this life they had and she cherished every moment. The distance hadn't been easy but it had made them emerge stronger because of it. "I know Din," she tells him. "I'm not really sad, I just...I don't know. I guess I wasn't prepared to see him eating from a spoon, is all. In my head he's still this tiny baby we brought back from the hospital and then I looked at him and he was a little boy." She feels like she might cry just saying it out loud. "It's just these stupid hormones from my milk drying up probably. I'll see if the birth control pills I get on Thursday will help balance everything out. I'm nothing but happy, I promise you."

"Me too," he tells her, lovingly. "And _him_ ," he says, as he points to the kid eating cereal in front of the TV. He rubs a hand down the fuzzy dark toddler hair on Ollie's head that still looked like cotton candy, "and _him_." There was no room for anything other than happiness. Their house was filled with it.

She couldn't stop thinking about how time had flown by. She had remembered the time so fondly when she found out they were expecting Ollie. It seemed like only yesterday when she told Din and his joy and amazement had filled every square foot of his apartment. She wished it hadn’t happened on his bathroom floor but it was what it was. The feeling when she had told Din she was expecting and the delight on his face was matched only almost by the joy of bringing Oliver into the world.

She wouldn't be caught unaware the second time, which was how she found herself sitting in her primary care physician’s office to get back on the pill. She’d been exclusively nursing, and she hadn’t even seen her period return yet so now seemed like the best time to get everything in order. She thought she was being proactive as she started to wean baby Oliver onto solid foods twelve months after he was born, but it had been hard so she hadn't pushed it all that strongly.

"No IUD? The doctor asks, a bit surprised. "It’s easier and less to remember," he states in case she's not aware. 

"No, we want to try to conceive again in the next year," she tells him. "The pills are just to get everything back where it should be." Their hushed talks about it at night and knowing looks when one of the kids did something particularly adorable were getting her excited about having another baby in the house one day soon if her body was on board. The only reason they hadn't tried _now_ , was that her period hadn't come back yet. She didn’t know how long it would take this time to conceive, but she vowed not to worry until there was reason too. She was two years older, but healthy, and they definitely weren’t lacking for inspiration or practice in that department. They had plenty of time and she’d stop taking her pills once they got her cycle back on track in a few months since they were already getting antsy about waiting much longer.

The nurse knocks on the door and hands a folder to the doctor who briefly glances at it, before doing a double take. He turns his attention back to Cara perched on the exam table. "It turns out I’m not going to be able to write you a prescription for the pills you asked for today."

"Why not? If it’s out of stock, a generic brand is fine."

"No, Mrs. Djarin. You misunderstand,” he says. “I can’t write you a prescription for _any_ birth control today. You might be unaware of it, but you’re currently pregnant."

She waits a few seconds before letting out a laugh. "Haha, good one," she laughs. "Doctor humor, am I right?"

"I'm not kidding. We test every woman of child-bearing age who comes in. You're pregnant."

"I'm still breastfeeding," she tells him, like that explains everything. "I haven't even had my period again."

"How old is your baby?" he asks her.

"Twelve months."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Breastfeeding certainly isn't a hundred percent as a family planning method,” he explains, “especially a year out. It can certainly delay the return of your menstrual cycle, but plenty of women get pregnant while still lactating....."

She looks shell shocked and very much like a scolded teenager who’d been told her birth control had failed. _That was ridiculous for a woman her age._

He closes the file in his hands and takes a softer tone. "I can see this wasn't what you were expecting to hear bu--"

"I'm happy," she says quickly before he gets the wrong idea. "I'm _thrilled_ , I just .....holy shit. What a surprise." She quickly recalled every punch she'd taken at the gym lately and where they had all landed. She couldn't recall any in the vicinity of her abdomen. She was sure everything was fine but she'd like to see it with her own eyes so she could rest easy.

The doctor seems much more relaxed knowing she was happy to hear the unexpected news. "We can probably get you squeezed in for an ultrasound to get a better guess at how many weeks out from conception you are if you can hang around another hour."

"Okay," she quickly agrees. Of course she wants to know. She wants to know everything.

"See the secretary on your way out,” he tells her, as he washes and dries his hands to leave. “I'll put the order in for her to book it for you. Congratulations."

...................

She purchased the t-shirt and onesie on her phone before she had even left the parking lot. She had wanted to use the Halloween one she had from Oliver for her surprise, but he wore it when he was ten-months old and it would be way too big to work now. She exhibited a superhuman sense of self control keeping it quiet until her packages she ordered in the mail came with 24-hour shipping. It wasn't _lying_ , it was delaying the inevitable surprise until the following day so she could plan something more meaningful than "hey, guess what, I'm pregnant." 

....................

Din got home from work and kissed her, Alex, and Oliver in that order as he made his way to the living room to play with the kids in the open space. Cara waited until he was nice and comfortable with a lap full of hugging boys so he was a captive audience. Only then, did she pick up the items of clothing from the back of the chair.

“Sorry, for the boxes by the door," she apologized, "I ordered some stuff I couldn’t find in the store.”

“I’ll break them down later and take them to the recycling,” he says. “What did you get?”

"I bought this on Amazon," she states. "You like my new shirt? It comes with a matching onesie." 

He only gets a second to look at the pumpkin on her shirt before she holds up the matching orange onesie so he can read it. **_Mommy’s little pumpkin._**

He chuckles at the purchase and how messed up the sizing chart must have been on the website. "I like it, but you'll have to exchange the onesie though," he tells her. "It's way too small to get Ollie stuffed in there in October, He'll be almost two around Halloween and that’s for a baby."

"It's not _for_ Oliver," she says plainly, waiting to see how long until he catches on. She starts counting in her head. _One……two……three…….four……._

"Who is it for then?" he asks, and just stares at her. He blinks a few times, but his face gives nothing away to suggest he's teasing her. He's not joking, he's oblivious. He sounds genuinely confused. 

He blinks. She can almost see the wheels turning in his head but he falls short. "I don't get it."

She explains as plainly as she can. "It'll fit the baby that's due around the first week of November."

Still a few more seconds go by, before a light switch flicks on. She can actually see his pupils get big as it clicks. 

"Wait......what?" he asks, totally in shock, maybe thinking he got it wrong. He must have squeezed Alex, because he feels him shift in his arms without taking his eyes off the cartoons on the TV.

"Surprise," she says with as much nervous excitement as she can muster.

"What?" he asks again," even more in shock. "I thought you said you were going for birth control since you haven't bled since Ollie."

"I was, but they refused to give it to me when my routine intake screen showed I was already pregnant."

"You're _pregnant_?" It was like his brain just caught up. 

She can't help but smirk at him. "So, you know how we joked about a Halloween baby…."

"You’re serious......."he says, as it finally sinks in. _Holy shit. She wasn't pulling a prank on him. She was serious._

“Yes, it's very early," she tells him. "About five weeks. Are you mad?"

That snapped him out of his shock. " _Mad_? ” he asked incredulously. “Of course I'm not mad," he insists, "I just……. _whoooo_. Another one, in November. I can't believe it. I'm thrilled Cara, really. This is amazing, just such a surprise."

"A good surprise I hope?" she asks hesitantly, "like Oliver was?"

She feels close to tears and her voice wavers as she waits to hear what he thinks. This’ll be the second baby they wanted but found out they were expecting before they doubled down 'trying' for. She could never imagine a baby being more loved than theirs though. They had agreed to start trying in a few months, but it seemed they were already ahead of the game, so to speak. It seemed they were surprisingly good at making adorable babies.

He can obviously tell she’s worried because he wraps his arms around her as much as he can with a kid in his lap. "The best kind of surprise,” he says lovingly, and kisses her until she’s not worried any more. _How could she ever think he was anything other than over the moon at the knowledge they’d have another baby to love?_ They could rearrange anything in their lives to make this work a few months earlier than planned. “I guess we'll have to convince Ollie to give up his crib for a big boy bed," he thinks aloud, as it sinks in that they're going to have a third child by the end of the year.

"That won't be hard,” she says knowingly. “Just have Alex sleep there for a few days and he'll go along with it. He worships his brother. He wants to do everything he does. We'll move his orange dinosaur in there too and he'll follow it. Come to think of it, we could move it to the moon and he’d find a way to follow it."

“I’d follow you there too, you know,” he says against her temple, where a few flyaway hairs tickle his nose.

“Shut up," she laughs. She's close to tears again even without his outpouring of love.

"Maybe a girl this time?” she ponders aloud, as he places his hand over her stomach. 

“What do _you_ think?" he asks.

She was so happy that the baby's sex couldnt seem less important right now. "As long as they’re healthy, I couldn’t be more thrilled with either." 

.............................

Alex's fall festival at school in LA was very different with an almost-two-year-old running around. They tried to keep Ollie in the carrier, but he wanted to chase his brother everywhere. Alex dressed as a zookeeper--which made sense given the state of their house most days. His costume was handmade and he had stuffed animals pinned all over him. The khaki shorts along with his safari hat were just too cute to believe. Cara was a cat with ears, whiskers, and a tail and Din was a lion. Ollie was an octopus for some reason-- _go figure_. That's the one he picked out so they just went with it. Maybe the zoo also had sea creatures.....

.......................

Halloween night, Din was quite proud of their second round of homemade costumes. The family costumes had been Alex's idea, but he'd used every bit of his creative ability to bring them to life-- a pumpkin spiced latte. When he'd stopped laughing and asked why on earth he'd thought of that, Alex put his hands around Cara's belly and simply said she loved them. Cara had laughed too, but it was so sweet and also so _true_. She'd craved them like crazy and half their income went straight to decaf versions of the seasonal drink, so Din sighs dramatically and gets to work.

He paints three pool noodles brown for the cinnamon sticks and glues them to his black shirt. Alex goes as a cardboard Starbucks coffee cup complete with coffee colored tissue paper and a straw, and since she misses coffee so much he wrote 'decaf' on the side for good measure. Ollie is a little coffee creamer that keeps running off every time Din puts him down so he has to hold him the whole night and Cara was of course the pumpkin in their pumpkin spiced latte. She was the center of their family costume--and not just because she was large enough to generate her own gravitational pull. Din made her green stem headband out of paper and wire he had left over from years ago when he'd tried to impress her with his artistic flourish, and when she saw him digging through the box of familiar colored cardstock and paper scraps she broke down sobbing right there in the living room. She couldn't believe he kept it all this time and even moved with it across the country. Those flowers had been the most wonderful gift from the most wonderful man she'd just started to fall in love with and he still managed to impress her years later.

All the families commented on how cute they were and winced at how very uncomfortable she looked this far along. Cara wasn't a cute bumpkin like she had been before, but a fully ripe pumpkin now; so round in fact, everyone stared at her as she waddled along. She had actually been more fit this time and gained less weight, but either this baby was huge or she was just carrying very differently. She felt like the baby had dropped down into her pelvis days ago, but her tummy told a different story-- it looked like she was smuggling a fully inflated beach ball under there in their pictures. Alex was certain there was a little girl in there but she wasn't convinced. Only a little boy could be this much trouble.....

Halloween night with two young energetic boys was amazing, but if she had to walk another ten steps tonight she might actually drop. She wasn't due for another ten days but she felt like if she sat down at any point tonight, she might never get up again. Din had noticed she’d slowed down considerably as the night pressed on and they had to break out the glowsticks. In turn, he tried to slow down Alex’s frantic run for candy to an extremely fast walk. 

Ollie was covered in glow sticks around his wrists and ankles as he toddles quickly after his brother. Din ran after them both while Cara stood at the entrance to each cul de sac and waited for the boys to hit each house before returning. The tightness across her belly had gone from annoying to debilitating but she didn’t want to ruin the boys’ night of fun. She could tough it out until she could get home and put her feet up.

"Hey, you okay?" Din asks, when she had to stop between houses to breathe and shift from foot to foot to try to trick her muscles into not seizing up. If she could just keep moving, she was sure she could make it at least two more neighborhoods.

She heard Ollie’s babbles approaching before she saw Din holding him in the front-carrier as he made his way back over to her. He ended up covering the carrier in the glowsticks instead of trying to keep them on the squirmy toddler. "Mamamama," she hears from Din's chest height as she grabbed the little baby hands and pressed kisses all over them, making him squeal. Maybe she should try walking again, she thinks. Standing still was getting torturous.

"Are you in pain?" Din asks, when she doesn’t immediately reach out to take Oliver in her arms when his grabby arms reach for mama. "Should we swing by the midwife’s on the way home? It’s not your back is it?" This seemed different from last time to him, but it didn’t hurt to make sure everything was fine. 

The baby felt so low it was getting hard to walk, but moving felt better than standing still so she shuffled along. From this neigborhood’s highest point, they could see the complete parking lot-level traffic that was the usual flowing highway. “Let's just go home," she suggests. "Traffic is a nightmare and I don’t think it’s labor. It'll take us forever to get home on the backstreets as it is." 

He conceded and they made their way back to the car. She had been right though; it had taken them almost an hour to get home when it usually took them fifteen minutes because of the backup on the highway. She's breathing heavily and holding onto the door handle so hard her knuckles are turning white by the time they pull into the driveway. She had been shifting around for most of it too. Luckily the kids had zonked out in the backseat and were none the wiser.

"You sure you're okay?" he asks, once the car is in park but she hadn't opened her door or made any more to stand up.

"Yeah. I just need to lie down I think." 

The boys went down so easily as he carried them one by one to their rooms. Halloween had really worn them out. The sugar and the excitement and the walking had been a magic combination. Once their doors were closed he could focus on Cara.

"Let’s go to bed," he suggests and she follows him through the door toward the bedroom.

"That sounds like a great idea," she admits as she hefted herself onto the mattress. 

She manages to drift off a few times but she can't manage to get comfortable even with every pillow in the house tucked around her. Hours go by of her shifting and stretching muscles that won't seem to relax before she realizes what this actually is.

She wakes her husband up from his peaceful sleep when she can't pretend she's fine any longer.

"I think I was wrong. I think I’m in labor." _She had been for hours and hours....._

It all goes so incredibly fast. 

Her water breaks in bed and soaks everything including Din’s pants before she can roll herself off the bed. "I'm so sorry," she says, completely mortified. There’s blood, but not a worrying amount. He remembers this part in the hospital from last time where they kept changing the absorbent towels like it was no big deal.

"It's okay," he tells her to ease her worry and keep her calm. 

Another half an hour goes by as they get a bag packed and she can hardly talk when she has to pause and focus to even breathe. She pulls out her phone to look at the roads in a moment of calm and sees all the main roads around them are still red, indicating heavy delays and gridlock.

"I'll put the bag in the car and wake up the kids," he tells her in a rush.

Her hand reaches out blindly to stop him mid-stride. "I don't think there's time to drive anywhere with the traffic jam and I’m _not_ giving birth in the car on the side of the highway."

Din knows there are down a few options with the wreck on the highway and how fast things are progressing. "I’ll call Evelyn then,” he says. “She can come _here instead_ ," he suggests, referring to the midwife Cara had taken a liking to.

He calls her from the other room but when he returns Cara can see how pale he looks. “She’s almost two hours away visiting her sister, but she's leaving now,” he informs her. The best Evelynn could do was tell him to call her if Cara delivers the baby before she arrives and she can walk him through how to cut the cord over the phone. He’s panicked when he realizes all Cara has is him. “I’ll call an ambulance.”

“That’s for people having a heart attack or a seizure. I’m having a baby," she reminds him. "You think you can do it?”

"Do _what_?" he asks, more than a little panicked. His eyes were huge. 

She's in no mood for jokes, though he's clearly not joking. He's petrified. "Deliver this baby!" she explains. "I already feel like I want to push. There’s so much pressure." 

He wants to reassure her but also be reasonable about the danger she could find herself in. He decides keeping her calm is more important at the moment. She’s depending on him. ‘ _Stay calm. You can do this_ ,’ he tells himself. _Women give birth all the time._

"Are you sure, Cara?" He'd been there for every second of Ollie's birth but he knew nothing about the delivery itself except how wonderful it was to hear that first cry.

"I can do this," she says confidently, "if you can help me."

"I'll do everything I can."

Forty-five minutes later she’s singing a different tune. "I don’t think I can do this….I don't think I can do this."

"Yes, you can," he encourages her. "You're the strongest woman I've ever met." He’s covered the ottoman in trash bags and towels and is squatting beside her where she's perched awkwardly atop it trying to find some relief. He'd tried to check her progress but he didn't really know what he was feeling for so he gave up and just returned to supporting her instead. He figured at least one of them would notice when the baby made his appearance.

"I want up…. help me up," she begs frantically, as the urge to move becomes overpowering. He's so focused on her every move it's easy to forget they're doing this on their own or all the things that could go wrong.

As soon as she started to stand another pain brought her back down again. "No, no, no, I want _down_. That was a terrible idea." She gets on her knees and drapes her body over the closest piece of furniture. She’s essentially naked; stripped down to nothing but her soft cotton bra and he can actually see her entire body seize up as a contraction takes over. She lets out a yell and tries to muffle it to not scare the kids sleeping down the hall. She wasn’t screaming before, and Din knew something was different. She gets on her back as she’s incapable of holding herself up any longer. She’s letting out these terribly quiet pained cries as she tries to hold back, but he preferred it when she was yelling loudly. Something had changed in her body language--where she had been grappled onto him for the last hour, she had let go and braced herself against the cushioned floor instead and her face was turning red as she held her breath between contractions. At his next inspection between her legs, he expected to see the same view as before but he sees the top of the baby’s head covered with dark hair when a contraction takes over. _Oh shit._

"You want to push?" he asks her hurriedly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "I can see the head now." He was doing this on his own--he was all she had. Evelynn wasn’t going to make it in time.

"I was wrong. I want to go to the hospital now," she all but cries into the cushions, as she tries to get back on all fours but can't manage it. Her about-face would be almost funny is she wasn't suffering so much while he just looked on helplessly.

"It's too late to go anywhere now, my love," he tells her regretfully. He makes one last prayer that nothing goes wrong because the hospital seems so far away. "You have to breathe."

"I have to _push_ ,” she gasps out. “Just don’t drop him." If there had been any room for humor in the middle of his blind panic, he would have laughed. He pushed her legs back to help her own grip, but she pushed him away. "Don't help me, help _him_. Don't drop him!"

"I won’t. I’ve got you both." His hands were shaking and wet with all manner of blood and fluids he couldn’t focus on now, so he wiped them off on the bed sheets to save the remaining clean towels for the baby's soft skin. He was terrified, but he was ready. He was touching a whole head full of hair now when she bore down. "Come on, push. We can do this." Cara hears him and even if her body wasn’t bearing down on its own she’d follow his words. He had said that last time too. Through her pain and the fog filling her brain she remembered those words so clearly. They could do this. 

She holds little Charlotte in the gliding chair so Din could strip the bed before waking up the boys to meet their newest addition. From the chair in the doorway, she had a perfect line of sight to the kitchen. Alex had called it _again_. A little girl. 

The midwife was really taking her time it seemed after she walked Din though the procedure to cut the cord and deliver the placenta, but Cara didn't mind the few moments before she arrived when it was just them. She was okay and the baby seemed fine too-- _better than fine_ \--she was perfect. She could take her time while they all got acquainted. Din looked so in love already. The first rays of sunlight hit the wall of the kitchen and the glare off something shiny caught her eye.

Her dollar bill she thought she'd never see again sat framed in their breakfast nook and the fact that Din held onto it for her showed her what kind of man he was from the very beginning. It caught her eye when they cooked meals together and when Alex did his homework at the breakfast table. It was crooked now though. _That was weird_. She always straightened it but was too tired to manage it right now. She wondered what could have possibly bumped since it sat so high. 

"Live your own dream too," it said, but she didn’t need to see it to know the message by heart. She really _had_ ……. If only he could see her now. Everything she never thought she'd get to have--a career she loved, a man who loved _her_ and believed in her dreams, two sleeping boys down the hall, and a fresh-faced squirmy baby she can't believe she delivered without a doctor. She was so tired, but too tired to sleep if that made any sense. Speaking of her kind, wonderful doting husband, Din's head peeked around her where she was mesmerized by this new little creature they called theirs. He looked like he was floating on air he was so happy and relieved. 

"Bed's clean, why don't you come lie back down and get some rest? I'll hold her until the kids wake up." 

The sun was already coming up and the baby's face was all scrunched in the tiny rays of sunlight. Cara sees the Halloween bags sitting on the counter with candy all over the place, forgotten in last night's excitement. She sees crumbs all over the table and fruit loops and crayons on the floor. One of Din's shoes is by the dishwasher and his keys were thrown down on the counter in a hurry when they'd walked in the door last night and she'd been practically clinging to him to get to bed. They were surrounded by the most beautiful mess that was better than a clean, spotless, lonely house any day and she was in no hurry for it to go away any time soon. They could all pitch in cleaning later or leave it for days for all she cared. What mattered now was the five of them where there'd only been four the night before. Ollie might not get it, but Alex would be so surprised when he came to climb in their bed in a few minutes and found his little sister. 

"You need help?” Din asks, when she doesn't immediately shuffle toward the bed. 

She looks down at the little face that's so new and yes so familiar that it feels like she’s always known her. "What do you say, Charlotte?" she asks the wiggly infant. “You want to go back to bed with your daddy? I sure do." 

Din's come over to help her stand, but her eyes don't leave the tiny delicate features on the sleeping face. "I can't wait for the boys to wake up and meet you. You'll love them, I just know it." 

He didn't think it was possible for him to ever love Cara more than he already did, but she kept surprising him. He was in awe of this woman and mother in front of him--the love of his life that he wished he had met years before, but found at the perfect time. Everyday he spent beside her he just loved her more and today might have raised the bar once again.

Din wraps his arm around her waist just to give her some extra stability on her feet. She kisses their daughter's little head. "She's so perfect," she says to Din, as if he didn't already know. He leans down to kiss her chapped lips, before leaning down to kiss the smaller version of Cara as well.

"Welcome to the family Charlotte, and the amazing and unpredictable life that's waiting for you," he says into the dark baby fuzz on her head. "But now, let’s get a few more minutes of rest before the day starts. I have a feeling our adventure is just beginning."

.........the end.............

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end...... <3Thanks for sticking with this wild ride :)  
> Thanks to everyone who left comments along the way!
> 
> Side note: I need some help deciding what to post next. In order, which ones are you most interested in seeing? I have drafts in all the categories below :D
> 
> A) Baby feels  
> B) Expanding on Season 1 and 2 events  
> C) AU stories  
> D) Action and/or angst  
> E) Continuing previous series or one-shots  
> F) Short drabbles
> 
> Until next time :)

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter up soon. I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you if you did, no matter how brief.


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